Idea Transcript
Àíãëèéñêèé ÿçûê äëÿ ïðîôåññèîíàëüíûõ öåëåé: ìåíåäæìåíò è ìàðêåòèíã
Ó÷åáíî-ìåòîäè÷åñêîå ïîñîáèå
Êðàñíîÿðñê ÑÔÓ 2012
УДК 811.111(07) ББК 81.2 Англ.я73 А64
А64
Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг [Электронный ресурс] : учеб.-метод. пособие / сост. : О. А. Алмабекова, А. В. Буденкова, Н. А. Грищенко, Е. О. Ершова, М. А. Кожевникова, В. В. Корниенко ; разраб. Центр обучающих систем ИнТК СФУ. – Версия 1.0. – Электрон. дан. (2 Мб). – Красноярск : СФУ, 2012. – 1 электрон. опт. диск (CD). – Систем. требования : Intel Pentium (или аналогичный процессор других производителей) 1 ГГц ; 512 Мб оперативной памяти ; 50 Мб свободного дискового пространства ; привод CD ; операционная система Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 7. – Adobe Reader 7.0 (или аналогичный продукт для чтения файлов формата pdf). – Электрон. версия печ. публикации 2011. – № гос. регистрации 0321201794. ISBN 978-5-7638-2561-9
Содержит материалы для проведения практических занятий. Предназначено для студентов 4-го курса направления подготовки дипломированных специалистов 080000 – «Специальности экономики и управления»: «Экономика и управление в машиностроении» (080502.65.01), «Экономика и управление в энергетике» (080502.65.04), «Экономика и управление на предприятии автомобильного транспорта» (080501.65.13), «Экономика и управление на предприятии воздушного транспорта» (080502.65.23), «Менеджмент организации» (080500.65.01), «Маркетинг» (080111.65), «Прикладная информатика в экономике» (080801.65.01), «Прикладная информатика в управлении» (080801.65.02), «Прикладная информатика в рекламе» (080801.65.29), «Прикладная информатика в международном бизнесе» (080801.65.28), «Экономика и управление в нефтегазовой промышленности» (080502.65.09). _______________________________ Учебное издание Алмабекова Ольга Алексеевна, Буденкова Анна Валентиновна, Грищенко Наталья Анатольевна, Ершова Евгения Олеговна, Кожевникова Мария Анатольевна, Корниенко Виктория Валерьевна
ISBN 978-5-7638-2561-9
© О. А. Алмабекова, А. В. Буденкова, Н. А. Грищенко, Е. О. Ершова, М. А. Кожевникова, В. В. Корниенко, 2012 © Разработка и оформление электронного образовательного ресурса: Центр обучающих систем ИнТК СФУ, 2012 © Сибирский федеральный университет, 2012
Электронный аналог печатного издания: Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг: учеб.-метод. пособие по курсу практических занятий / сост. : О.А. Алмабекова, [и др.]. Красноярск: СФУ, 2011. – 216 с. Содержимое ресурса охраняется законом об авторском праве. Несанкционированное копирование и использование данного продукта запрещается. Встречающиеся названия программного обеспечения, изделий, устройств или систем могут являться зарегистрированными товарными знаками тех или иных фирм.
Подписано к использованию 08.02.2012 Объем 2 Мб. Заказ № 7243 Сибирский федеральный университет, 660041, г. Красноярск, пр. Свободный, 79
Оглавление ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ ........................................................... 7 Module 1 ...................................................................... 9 Part 1 WHAT IS MANAGEMENT? .............................. 9 Definition of management ............................................................................... 9 Are you an entrepreneur? ............................................................................. 11 Calculate your score. ..................................................................................... 12 Rate yourself. ................................................................................................. 12 VOCABULARY ................................................................................................ 14 WRITING .......................................................................................................... 16 Part 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS ....................................................................... 17 READING ......................................................................................................... 17 Company structures ...................................................................................... 19 VOCABULARY ................................................................................................ 19 READING ......................................................................................................... 22 Management qualities and skills .................................................................. 23
VOCABULARY ........................................................................................................... 23 The qualities of a successful manager .................................................................... 26
Leadership and management styles ............................................................ 30 READING 1 ...................................................................................................... 31 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT.............................................. 34 READING 2 ...................................................................................................... 37 READING 3 ...................................................................................................... 41 READING 4 ...................................................................................................... 44 Part 3 WORKING CONDITIONS ............................... 47 Elements of success ..................................................................................... 47
The bolt that holds the Ikea Empire together .......................................................... 47
Motivation ....................................................................................................... 49 READING 1 ...................................................................................................... 50 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................... 52 VOCABULARY 2 ............................................................................................. 55
Factors contributing to job satisfaction .................................................................. 56
READING 2 ...................................................................................................... 57 READING 3 ...................................................................................................... 59
Dirty business, bright ideas ..................................................................................... 59
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WRITING .......................................................................................................... 62 Team building ................................................................................................. 62 VOCABULARY ................................................................................................ 65 READING ......................................................................................................... 66
Team building involves more than throwing a few people together ..................... 66
WRITING .......................................................................................................... 68 Working hours ................................................................................................ 69 READING ......................................................................................................... 71 READING 2 ..................................................................................................... 72
Working from home .................................................................................................. 73
Pay ................................................................................................................... 75 READING ......................................................................................................... 77 WRITING .......................................................................................................... 78 Part 4 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT ........................................................... 79 Building relationships and communication ................................................ 79 VOCABULARY ................................................................................................ 80 READING ......................................................................................................... 82 Communication .............................................................................................. 84 IDIOMS............................................................................................................. 87 WRITING .......................................................................................................... 89 READING ......................................................................................................... 90 READING 2 ...................................................................................................... 91 Effective Risk Management .......................................................................... 94 VOCABULARY ................................................................................................ 94 Part 5 RECRUITMENT............................................... 99 VOCABULARY ................................................................................................ 99 How to select the best candidate and avoid the worst ............................ 101 READING 2 .................................................................................................... 103 Headhunting ................................................................................................. 106 Module 2 .................................................................. 112 Part 6 MARKETING AND ITS COMPONENTS ..... 112 Definition of Marketing ................................................................................ 112 READING ....................................................................................................... 113 SPEAKING..................................................................................................... 114 Market Research .......................................................................................... 118 HELLO TO GOODBUYS ............................................................................. 119 VOCABULARY .............................................................................................. 122 Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Definition of competition............................................................................. 124 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 125 READING ....................................................................................................... 128 Marketing Strategies ............................................................................................... 129
SPEAKING..................................................................................................... 131 Market Structures .................................................................................................... 131
READING ....................................................................................................... 132 GAME ‘IN A SPIN’ ......................................................................................... 135 Part 8 PRODUCT ..................................................... 140 Kinds of product and production stages .................................................. 140 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 140 VOCABULARY 2 ........................................................................................... 146 READING ...................................................................................................... 147 Product innovations ................................................................................... 149 Quality control .............................................................................................. 151 A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT ............................................................................ 151 ROLE-PLAY .................................................................................................. 154 Branding........................................................................................................ 158 READING ....................................................................................................... 161 READING 2 .................................................................................................... 162 Part 9 PRICE AND PRICING .................................... 165 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 165 READING ...................................................................................................... 167 VOCABULARY 2 ........................................................................................... 169 Part 10 CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION ................. 174 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 174 READING ....................................................................................................... 178 Retailing ........................................................................................................ 180 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 181 READING ....................................................................................................... 183 Customer service ......................................................................................... 187 READING ....................................................................................................... 188 WRITING ........................................................................................................ 190 Electronic commerce ................................................................................... 191 READING 1 .................................................................................................... 191 Shopping from home .............................................................................................. 191
VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 193 READING 2 .................................................................................................... 195 WRITING ........................................................................................................ 198 Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Part 11 PROMOTION................................................ 200 READING ...................................................................................................... 200 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 203 Advertising .............................................................................................................. 205 It pays to advertise .................................................................................................. 206
READING ....................................................................................................... 207 Advertising standards ............................................................................................ 207
VOCABULARY .............................................................................................. 209 READING 2 .................................................................................................... 210 VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT............................................. 211 READING 3 .................................................................................................... 213
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ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ Пособие является продолжением вводного курса делового английского языка. В основе данного издания лежит идея взаимосвязанного изучения лексики и одновременного развития всех коммуникативных навыков: чтения, говорения, аудирования и письма. Это определило структуру и содержание учебно-методического пособия. Пособие охватывает широкий диапазон речевых клише, текстов, упражнений, диалогов. Целями пособия являются: обучение основам профессионального общения в устных и письменных формах, накопление словарного запаса, ознакомление с элементами делового этикета и языкового поведения, выработка навыков аргументации и ведения дискуссии. Пособие состоит из двух тематических разделов. Первый раздел посвящен менеджменту. Раздел состоит из 5 частей. В первой и второй частях преимущественное внимание уделяется понятийному аппарату, связанному с дисциплиной «менеджмент», рассматриваются структура управления, функции, обязанности менеджеров и процессы, связанные с ними. Выбор тематики третьей части определен современными потребностями работников любого уровня в знании условий работы и умений менеджера по созданию благоприятной рабочей среды. Четвертая часть охватывает вопросы, связанные с психологическими аспектами менеджмента, стилями управления, личными качествами менеджеров и лидерскими способностями. В пятой части внимание уделяется специфике найма персонала, в частности роли руководителя в этом процессе и собственно процедуре. Основная тема второго раздела – маркетинг. Раздел состоит из 6 частей. Две первых части позволяют ознакомиться со структурой маркетинга, типами рынков, стратегиями компаний на рынке, инструментами маркетингового исследования, понятийным аппаратом по дисциплине «маркетинг». Остальные части раздела посвящены главным компонентам, по которым проводится маркетинговое исследование – продукт, цена, размещение и продвижение товара на рынке. Важное место в разделе занимают вопросы брендирования, деловой этики, методов маркетингового анализа. В данном пособии студентам предлагается выполнить такие типы заданий как чтение с пониманием общего смысла и детальной информации, множественный выбор, ответы на вопросы, заполнение пропусков недостающей информацией, участие в дискуссиях, написание сочинения и др. Представлено много творческих заданий, направленных на развитие навыков устной и письменной речи. Предлагаемое учебно-методическое пособие предназначено для студентов 4-го курса экономического факультета со средним и высоким уровнем английского языка, продолжающих изучать английский язык после
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школы, и разработаны в соответствии с типовой программой иностранным языкам для экономических специальностей.
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MODULE 1 PART 1 WHAT IS MANAGEMENT? Definition of management 1. What associations come to your mind when you hear the word ‘management’? Complete the mind-map.
Management
2. Choose a definition of ‘management’ that you like more and explain your choice. The verb manage comes from the Italian maneggiare (to handle — especially a horse), which in turn derives from the Latin manus (hand). The French word mesnagement (later management) influenced the development in meaning of the English word management in the 17th and 18th centuries. Management comprises directing and controlling a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing that group towards accomplishing a goal. Management often encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. Management can also refer to the person or people who perform the act(s) of management. Management has to do with power by position, whereas leadership involves power by influence. (Wikipedia) Management is the process of getting activities completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people. Management is like investment. Managers have resources to invest – their own time and talent as well as human and financial resources. The goal (function) of management is to get the best return on those resources by getting things done
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MODULE 1 Definition of management
efficiently. This doesn’t entail being mechanical. The manager’s style is a contextual issue. With highly skilled and self-motivated knowledge workers, the manager can be very empowering. Where the workforce is less skilled or motivated, the manager may need to monitor output more closely. By saying that management is a function, not a type of person or role, we better account for selfmanaged work teams where no one is in charge. Skilled managers know how to coach and motivate diverse employees. Getting things done through people is what they do. (“What is Management?” by Mitch McCrimmon) The American Management Association defines management as ‘the process of getting work done through people.’ It is management’s responsibility to achieve and maintain a business organization’s effectiveness. Traditionally, management includes the following activities: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. More specifically, management is responsible for the primary activities of the firm; those being inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Management is also responsible for the support activities of infrastructure (accounting, finance, strategic planning), human resource management (recruiting, training and development, compensation management), technology development (product and process improvement), and procurement (material acquisition). Management crosses cultural boundaries as most organizations of significant size operate internationally. Primary and support activities are performed in an international context. Management is the art and science of directing the operations of both individuals and organizations. Specifically, the overall function of management is often broken down into four general categories: planning, leading, organizing, and controlling. The overall effectiveness and efficiency of operations is generally credited to management. But in practical terms, what does this all mean? Briefly, management is what allows people to work together cooperatively in an organization and to somehow leverage their talents. Management is about helping organization members understand why they are performing a certain task; i.e., what are they accomplishing which contributes to the whole? Management is about conceiving a purpose toward which the organization may focus its activities. Management is concerned with helping people gain some measure of satisfaction and pleasure from the tasks they perform. In short, it could be said that, as a discipline, management is what makes a business enterprise a real organization rather than simply a collection of people. (Wall College of Business Administration) 3. a) Could you explain the difference between the notions ‘manager’, ‘administrator’ and ‘entrepreneur’? b) What would you prefer: to be an entrepreneur or a manager; or maybe both? Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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MODULE 1 Definition of management
c) Do a psychological test and compare your ideas with the results of the test. Make comments.
Are you an entrepreneur? 1. Do you prefer to work on your own, with as little outside direction as possible? a) yes b) usually c) no 2. Do you feel, given well-defined criteria and adequate resources, you will produce a favourable result? a) yes b) usually c) sometimes 3. Do you find a limited working environment frustrating? a) very b) usually c) can cope 4. If something you are involved with goes wrong, do you feel personally responsible? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 5. Do you suggest changes in operations which involve you? a) often b) sometimes c) seldom 6. Do you enjoy working with other people? a) usually b) sometimes c) seldom 7. Do you enjoy assessing risk and acting on your assessments? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 8. Do you apply yourself equally to all tasks you face? a) yes b) usually c) no 9. Are you content with your achievements to date? a) yes b) generally c) no 10. Are you content with your present lifestyle? a) yes b) generally c) no 11. Do you care what your friends and business associates think of you? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 12. Do you have a clear idea of what you want to do over the next three years? a) yes b) reasonable clear c) no 13. Do you think you have control over and can influence your future? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 14. Do you put your failures behind you? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 15. Are you outspoken — sometimes to your detriment — about what you think? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 16. Do you believe you are adequately compensated for work you have done? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 17. Do poor working conditions affect your performance? a) yes b) sometimes c) no 18. Do your goals have the support of your family and those close to you? a) yes b) usually c) no Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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MODULE 1 Are you an entrepreneur?
19. What level of growth potential do you think the free enterprise system has? a) unlimited b) limited c) very little 20. If the situation is not suitable to your plans, do you: a) carry on regardless? b) wait for it to improve? c) change your plans?
Calculate your score. 1. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 2. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 3. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 4. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 5. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1
6. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 7. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 8. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 9. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 10. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3
11. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 12. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 13. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 14. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 15. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1
16. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 17. a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 18. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 19. a) 3 b) 2 c) 1 20. a) 2 b) 1 c) 3
Rate yourself. OVER 55: You probably know exactly what you intend to do — if you have not already started on it. And the chances are that you did not need the confirmation of this questionnaire to reassure you about your entrepreneurial drive. But since you appear to have the motivation and attitudes to succeed, make sure you seek out expert advice before you go any further. 50 TO 55: You are on your way. A full profile of your personality would probably place you firmly in the ‘likely to succeed’ category. 45 TO 50: The ability, the motivation and the attitudes to win through are probably there. But there is also the possibility of a lack of commitment in some areas. Perhaps family responsibilities give rise to caution: perhaps you are aimed to the accumulation of wealth. More likely, you are already in a job and, not being an intending entrepreneur, lack of clarity of goals. 40 TO 45: Definite need for close reappraisal if you are intending to launch yourself forth as an entrepreneur. Perhaps your skills are more management orientated? Or perhaps a cooperative or partnership would be more suitable? Below 40: A decided skepticism, even lack of belief in the system is indicated here. You may be highly skilled, but are perhaps unwilling — or unable — to do battle as a business entrepreneur.
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MODULE 1 Rate yourself.
READING 1. Read the text and find the definition of a manager, an administrator and an entrepreneur. See how much your ideas are similar to the information in the text. What is Management? You want me to explain what management is? Well, I guess I can manage that! Actually, management as we understand it today is a fairly recent idea. Most economists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, for example, wrote about factors of production such as land, labour and capital, and about supply and demand, as if these were impersonal and objective economic forces which left no room for human action. An exception was Jean-Baptiste, who invented the term ‘entrepreneur’, the person who sees opportunities to use resources in more productive ways. Entrepreneurs are people who are alert to so-far undiscovered profit opportunities. They perceive opportunities to commercialize new technologies and products that will serve the market better than it is currently being served by their competitors. They are happy to risk their own or other people’s capital. They are frequently unconventional, innovative people. But entrepreneurship isn’t the same as management, and most managers aren’t entrepreneurs. So, what’s management? Well, it’s essentially a matter of organizing people. Managers, especially senior managers, have to set objectives for their organization, and then work out how to achieve them. This is true of the managers of business enterprises, government departments, educational institutions, and sports teams, although for government services, universities and so on we usually talk about administrators and administration rather than managers and management. Managers analyse the activities of the organization and the relations among them. They divide the work into distinct activities and then into individual jobs. They select people to manage these activities and perform the jobs. And they often need to make the people responsible for performing individual jobs form effective teams. Managers have to be good at communication and motivation. They need to communicate the organization’s objectives to the people responsible for attaining them. They have to motivate their staff to work well, to be productive, and to contribute something to the organization. They make decisions about pay and promotion. Managers also have to measure the performance of their staff, and to ensure that the objectives and performance targets set for the whole organization and for individual employees are reached. Furthermore, they have to train and develop their staff, so that their performance continues to improve. Some managers obviously perform these tasks better than others. Most achievements and failures in business are the achievements or failures of individual managers.
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MODULE 1 Rate yourself.
2. Work in pairs. Read the text again and find the manager’s functions. 3. Divide the managerial functions, you have just listed, into four groups. Planning: Organizing: Directing: Controlling:
V OC A B U L A R Y to design and maintain an environment efficient staff; to staff to apply to (e.g. Management applies to any kind of organization.) profit surplus a profit (business) enterprise; not-for-profit (non-business) enterprise to charge with responsibility to make contributions to objective, aim, goal group objectives a desirable aim available resources to strive scope of authority to deal with to establish group endeavour to carry out
1. a) Match the word ‘aim’ and ‘result’ with the verbs given below. attain achieve accomplish meet obtain reach
aim
result
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MODULE 1 VOCABULARY
b) These verbs have one initial meaning, but their usage is different. Match the verbs and the nouns to make word partners. to manage to run to administrate to rule to lead to supervise
business country people company
2. Complete the sentences with an appropriate word. Management is the process of designing and maintaining _______ for effective accomplishing endeavour group goals. scope of authority Managers ______ planning, organising, staffing, applies leading and controlling. Management ____ to any kind of organisation and available resources managers at all organisational levels. carry out Managers are charged with ______ of taking actions that will make it possible for individuals to make their responsibility ______ to group objectives. an environment Managers can obtain good results by establishing an a surplus environment for effective group ______. Top-level managers and lower-level managers hold contribution different _____ . accomplish The logical and most desirable aim of all managers should be ______ . Managers must establish an environment in which people can _____ group goals.
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MODULE 1 VOCABULARY
3. Match the synonyms. goal to strive profit to charge with responsibility scope of authority staff efficient to design to deal with to establish
to cope to create duties employees to try to organise aim surplus effective to make responsible
4. Match the words to make phrases. coordinate communicate deal with delegate perform develop issue measure motivate to charge with set take
activities performance staff strategies responsibilities tasks information miracles objectives orders crises decisions
WRITING Write a composition ‘Management in my every-day life’.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS 1. What levels of management do you know? Give their main characteristics. 2. Decide what level of management these positions could be referred to. President factory manager general chairman of the board head of accounting chairman of the history department cardinal premier army captain supervisor sergeant Top managers
pastor foreman vice president
First−Line Managers
Middle Managers
Define the functions of each management level control the organization implement the policy supervise the work of subordinates establish the organization’s goals coordinate the activities of supervisors develop policies bridge the upper and lower levels work out the strategy handle inventory management represent the organization supervise and coordinate the activities of operating employees spend much time in meetings and on the phone make decisions about investments
READING 1. a) Read the text and complete it, using the correct form of the verbs below. Top Management achieve employ
allocate establish
balance follow
deal with require set
develop
The top managers of a company (1) have to ......... objectives and then develop particular strategies that will enable the company to (2) ......... them. This will involve (3) ......... the company's human, capital and physical resources. Strategies can often be sub-divided into tactics - the precise methods in which the resources attached to a strategy are (4) ......... . The founders of a business usually establish a ‘mission statement’ - a declaration about what the business is and what it will be in the future. The business’s central values and objectives will (5) ......... from this. But because the business environment is always changing, companies will occasionally have to modify or Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS READING
change their objectives. It is part of top management's role to (6) ......... today’s objectives and needs against those of the future, and to take responsibility for innovation, without which any organization can only expect a limited life. Top managers are also expected to set standards, and to (7) ......... human resources, especially future top managers. They also have to manage a business’s social responsibilities and its impact on the environment. They have to (8) ......... and maintain good relations with customers, major suppliers, bankers, government agencies, and so on. The top management, of course, is also on permanent stand-by to (9) ......... major crises. Between them, these tasks (10) ......... many different skills which are almost never found in one person, so top management is work for a team. A team, of course, is not the same as a committee: it needs a clear leader, in this case the chairman or managing director. b) Look through the text again and expand the list of the top managers’ functions. c) Explain the differences of the terms tactics, strategy, policies and mission statement. Which of them are long-term goals and which are short-term? 2. a) What are the advantages and disadvantages of making a mission statement? b) Read these mission statements. What is each company trying to achieve? 1 The business of Newcastle United is football — our aim to play
attractive football, to win trophies, to satisfy our supporters and shareholders and to continually improve our position as a top European club.
2 Glaxo Wellcome is a research-based company whose
people are committed to fighting disease by bringing innovative medicines and services to patients throughout the world and to the healthcare providers who serve them.
3 Pret creates handmade, natural food,
avoiding the obscure chemicals and addictives common to so much of the ‘prepared’ and ‘fast’ food on the market today. c) Discuss these statements. Do you agree with them? Give your reasons.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS READING
1 ‘Small is beautiful’ is a better strategy in business than ‘big is best’. 2 Big companies should aim to gain market share rather than make profit. 3 Companies should focus on what they do best rather than diversify.
Company structures Work in small groups. Prepare a poster and present your ideas on the following questions: • How could a typical company structure look like? • Do you think this kind of a company structure is the most suitable one? • Think about disadvantages of such a structure.
V OC A B U L A R Y hierarchy: to be headed by to report to to be under smb. to be accountable to to be supported by to be assisted by
responsibilities / functions: to be responsible for to be in charge of to take care of to be involved in smth. / doing smth. titles: Chairman /Chairperson (US President) Board of Directors Managing Director = MD (US Chief Executive Officer = CEO) Finance Director (US Vice-President Finance) Sales Manager (US Sales Director) Shareholders affiliates: parent company headquarter subsidiary department division to be owned by 1. Look at the chart below and complete the paragraph, using the correct form of the words in the box.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS VOCABULARY
The DSA Corporation consists of three _______, Building Materials, Constructions and Civil Engineering. DSA _______ New York and comprises four _____, KAF inc., Halcon, Conway and RoadCo. Each of these is _____ a Senior Vice-President who ____ the ____. subsidiary division be headed by
be based in
parent company report to
2. Complete the management hierarchy chart with the correct form of an appropriate word or phrase from the box.
be responsible for be in charge of be supported by support be accountable to consist of be headed by KAF Inc. is a building materials manufacturing company in Detroit. KAF _____ the Chief Executive Officer, ______ the Board of directors, which _____ four people. The staff in each of the four departments are _____ Vice-President who is also on the Board. In each department, a managerial team of directors _____ _____
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS VOCABULARY
the Vice-President. In the Sales Department, one director _____ exports, the other _____ domestic sales. 3. a) Read the whole text and then complete the organization chart:
I think we have a fairly typical organization for a manufacturing firm. We’re divided into Finance, Production, Marketing and Human Resources departments. The Human Resources department is the simplest. It consists of two sections. One is responsible for recruitment and personnel matters, the other is in charge of training. The Marketing department is made up of three sections: Sales, Sales Promotion, and Advertising, whose heads are all accountable to the marketing manager. The Production department consists of five sections. The first of these is Production Control, which is in charge of both Scheduling and Materials Control. Then there's Purchasing, Manufacturing, Quality Control, and Engineering Support. Manufacturing contains three sections: Tooling, Assembly, and Fabrication. Finance is composed of two sections: Financial Management, which is responsible for capital requirements, fund control, and credit, and Accounting. b) In the text find other four verbs in the text that mean the same as to consist of: 1. ......... 2. ......... 3. ......... 4. .........
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS VOCABULARY
4. a) Work in pairs. Prepare a list of departments which are typical for most of the companies. Think of the functions that different departments carry out.
READING 1. Someone is giving a visitor a tour of a company. • Read the text, • underline the names of all the departments, • find the phrases which express responsibilities, OK, let’s start here, in research and development, or R & D. This department is responsible for thinking of ideas for new products and finding ways to improve our existing products … This department looks after our computer equipment. They deal with any problems. This is information technology or IT … Purchasing buys all the things we need to make our products. They talk to our suppliers and try to get the best price … This is the main factory area, the production department. Here we make our products. It’s the biggest part of the company … Here in the finance department, they check how much the company is making and decide how much to spend. They also pay employees’ salaries. This department looks after the people who work here. Human resources is responsible for recruiting new employees, organizing training and helping with any problems … Sales and marketing is very important. The marketing people think up the ideas for selling our products. The sales people go out and sell our products to our customers … Customer services processes orders from customers. It organizes transportation, checks that customers have received their orders and deals with complaints … Finally, distribution is responsible for transporting our products. They receive orders from customer services, and plan how and when to transport the products so the customers receive them at the right time … • match the names of the departments with their sort descriptions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Sales and marketing Information technology Customer services Human resources Purchasing Production R&D Finance
a b c d e f g h
transports the products. pays the salaries. sells the products. makes the products. looks after the computers. thinks of ideas for new products. recruits new staff. processes orders form customers.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS READING
9 Distribution
i buys parts from suppliers.
2. Choose a company you are familiar with. Present its structure, describing the hierarchy and activities of the departments.
Management qualities and skills VOCABULARY 1. Prepare a list of positive and negative qualities of a boss.
qualities
positive
negative
Compare your ideas with the list given here. Which adjectives describe positive and which negative aspects of someone’s character? decisive charismatic motivating adventurous
open ruthless informal uncaring
passionate impulsive flexible lunatic
energetic straight accessible moderate
balanced careful thoughtful aggressive
Can you think of adjectives with opposite meanings to the ones above? 2. What is the difference between a manager and a leader? Can an individual be both leader and manager? If so, describe the process by which both activities can emerge in the same person. 3. Jack Welsh is Chief Executive Officer of General Electric. In the extracts bellow he talks about qualities of a good leader. Read the text and summarise these qualities.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
‘I simply dislike traits that have come to be associated with ‘managing’ – controlling, stifling people, keeping them in the dark, wasting their time on trivia and reports. Breathing down their necks. You can’t manage selfconfidence into people. You have to get out of their way and let it grow in
them by allowing them to win, and then rewarding them when they do. The word ‘manager’ has too often come to be synonymous with control – cold, uncaring, passionless. I never associate passion with the word ‘manager’, and I’ve never seen a leader without it.’
‘Above all else good leaders are open. They go up, down, and around their organizations to reach people. They don’t stick to established channels. They’re informal. They’re straight with people. They make a religion out of being accessible.
‘One of the things about leadership is that you cannot be a moderate, balanced, thoughtful, careful articulator of policy. You’ve got to be on the lunatic fringe.’
‘(The future) will not belong to ‘managers’ or those who can make the numbers dance. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders – people who not only have enormous amounts of energy but who can energize those whom they lead.’ 4. Complete column 2 of the table with opposite meanings. Use the prefixes in, ir-, un-, il- or dis-. Then complete column 3 with the noun forms. 1 Adjectives
2 Opposite adjective
3 Noun form
considerate creative decisive diplomatic efficient flexible inspiring interested logical organised rational responsible sociable supportive
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
Choose the four best qualities of a manager from the list above and rank them in order of importance. Then choose the four worst qualities and rank them (1 = worst). 5. a) In the grid below, eleven words connected with management qualities are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Find them. C T M E F A I R E E T
O H I N D C R A F P A
S O A E E C O R F I C
O U F R C E A P I S T
C G O G I S P R C T F
I H R E S S A E I O U
A T M T I I M L E N L
B F A I V B O A N I G
L U L C E L I T T N U
E L S D R E F E E I N
M O T I V A T I N G C
b) Write the opposites of the adjectives you have just found in the correct column. un…… in…… ………less de…… / un…… 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4
1 2
1
c) Complete the sentences with the most suitable adjective from exercise a and b. 1 It was ……… of you to offer the contract to such a disreputable firm. 2 I would find it very ……… if I didn’t get any recognition for my work. 3 Most of the staff interviewed said they expected a manager to be …….. , in other words, easy to speak to, ‘within reach’. 4 Some people think she is rather …….. because she addresses everyone by their surnames. 5 What do you mean, ‘Maybe yes’? Sometimes I wish you were more …….. . 6 If you took some exercise, you’d surely feel more ……….. . 6. Fill in the gaps using the words below. Confident initiative accountable leadership stamina organisation judgment integrity communicate Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
The qualities of a successful manager What makes a good manager? First of all the ability to ____, to take you ideas across and to listen to other people. Secondly, a good sense of ___ so that working practices are efficient and problems can be anticipated and avoided. Thirdly, managers work long hours and therefore a great deal of _____ is required to avoid stress. A good manager must also be ____ in his/her own ability to deal with difficult situations and show qualities of ____ so that others will want to follow. Managers have to take the ____ and bring fresh, creative ideas to old problems. But sound ____ is necessary when a choice of possible courses of action is difficult or risky. Once decisions are taken, a manager has to make sure they are implemented and obeyed. For this, he or she must demonstrate _____ this includes a sense of honesty, trust and loyalty to the organization and the personnel under his or her control. Managers should also be ____ to their own boss and be able to explain the reasons for making any decision. 7. a) Complete the columns in the questionnaire. Are you a natural leader?
Usually
Sometimes
Rarely
1 When you know a subordinate is having difficulties with a task, can you resist the temptation to take over immediately? 2 Can you stay calm at times of crisis?
3 Are you comfortable with change?
4 Can you create an atmosphere of enthusiasm among a group of people? 5 In the middle of the day-to-day problems can you concentrate on future needs?
6 Can you discard your own ideas and
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
accept other people’s in their place?
7 Do you give credit to people for their contribution? 8 Can you ‘put yourself in someone’s shoes’: understand their motivations when they are different from your own?
9 Do you have a consistent approach to problems?
10 Do you praise people whenever you can? 11 Can you keep a secret?
12 Do you set high standards and clear objectives?
13 Do you take an interest in other people’s lives? 14 Can you accept that a subordinate may understand the technical aspects of the job better than you? 15 Can you act decisively when time is short?
Now you can count your score and to see the results (don’t take them seriously). usually = 2, sometimes = 1 25 -30: a natural leader or a liar 15 – 24: a steady pair of hands 0 – 14: no comment b) In pairs write more questions in the same style as the ones in the questioner. The questions should express what you think are the qualities of a leader. Try questions on each other. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
8. Comment on the following statements. Which of them do you agree with? A manager should know where you are and what you’re doing at all times during working hours. A manager should not criticise or praise. A manager should not interfere in disagreements between members of staff. A manager should be available at all times to give staff advice and support. A manager should keep distance from staff and not get involved in socialising outside work. A manager should use polite language at all times. A manager should work longer hours than the staff. A manager should comment on the personal appearance of the staff. A manager should not ask people to do things they are not prepared to do themselves. 9. Fill in the gaps using the words below. Define the genre of this text. information activities
objectives delegate
measures orders
motivate decisions
deal with strategies
Aphrodite Cosmetics Managing Director As a world leader in the health and beauty sector, Aphrodite is a multinational company with a turnover in excess of 5bn. We are seeking a Managing Director of outstanding caliber to take us into the next decade. The Role The successful candidate will be required to: • set _____ and communicate them clearly to staff. • develop ____ which will increase profitability and market share. • take _____at the highest level affecting both the long and short terms activities of the group. • accurately ____ performance both of individuals and departments. • issue ____ which may sometimes be unpopular.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
The Person We are looking for someone who is: • strong, charismatic and who can ____ staff by his or her vision. • well-organised and who can coordinate the ____ of the whole group effectively. • calm when ___ a crisis. • able to ___ tasks to others when necessary. • able to communicate ___ clearly and precisely to all levels of the company. 10. Read the letter. Complete the application using suitable words and phrases from the box. The letter in brackets indicates which column you should check to find the correct word. A Personal qualities creative dynamic efficient energetic methodical perceptive responsible well-organised
B Skills / activities communication skills interpersonal skills organizational ability I was responsible for ……co-ordinating ……developing ……implementing ……initiating ……liaising ……monitoring ……negotiating ……organising ……reviewing ……setting up
C Useful phrases I can work / perform well under pressure. I am willing to take the initiative. I have a proven track record in …. I have extensive knowledge of …. I have extensive experience in / of …. I am able to delegate …. I can work effectively in a team. I am fluent in …. I have a good knowledge of ….
Dear Ms Walker, I am writing to apply for the position of a Managing Director which you advertised in the International Herald Tribune, dated 22 April. I am currently working as a Marketing Director in a medium-sized cosmetic company. However, I am seeking a position which will offer a greater challenge and more responsibility. In my last job, I was responsible for …….. 1 (B) a sales strategy for the firm and for ……..2 (B) the work of the advertising, sales and marketing personnel. I was also involved in ………3 (B) contracts with overseas agents and distributors, setting their sales targets and …… 4 (B) their performance. In the last six months, I have been engaged in …….. 5 (B) franchising networks in Eastern Europe. I have …….. 6 (C) in the cosmetic industry, having worked for three companies dealing in health and beauty products. I think that I work well ……….7 Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Management qualities and skills
(C) as I have organised several product launches when I had to meet tight deadlines. Although I never avoid responsibility, I am able to ……. 8 (C) authority when it is necessary. As for my personal qualities, I am …….. 9 (A) person, with many ideas for exciting new products which would interest your company. Most people say that I am very …….. 10 (A), with the ability to motivate staff and get results. I consider myself to be extremely ………. 11 (A) because I always make the most of the resources available to me. Since you are an international company, it may interest you to know that I am ……. 12 (C) in English and Spanish, and I have a working knowledge in Portuguese. I would welcome the opportunity to meet you to discuss my application at greater length. Yours sincerely, Gabrielle Gerard. Compare the requirements in ex. 9 with the personal information in ex.10. Decide if this applicant would be suitable for the advertised position.
Leadership and management styles 1. Read the description of the five different types of manager. Put the numbers 1-5 on the line, then compare in small groups. Democratic manager
Autocratic manager
1. You discuss problems with others as a group, and collect their ideas, suggestions. Then you make the decision alone. Others may or may not agree with you. 2. You solve the problem or make the decision alone, using information that you are able to get yourself. 3. You get information others, and then decide on the solution alone. You may or may not tell others why you want the information. 4. You share the problem with others as a group. You all evaluate the situation and reach an agreement together. You accept the group’s decision, even if it isn’t your own solution.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS Leadership and management styles
5. You share the problem with others individually, but you do not consult them as a group. You then make the decision alone. Others may or may not agree with you. 2. Work in groups. Summarise the information above and your own ideas to prepare the list of characteristics for democratic and autocratic managers. manager
democratic
autocratic
3. Match these pairs of contrasting management style. 1 autocratic 2 centralizing 3 directive 4 empowering 5 hands on 6 task-oriented
a) collaborative b) controlling c) delegating d) democratic e) people-oriented f) laissez-faire
4. What is the role of a manager? Choose your top three roles from the following: • • • • •
coach / motivator mediator problem-solver investigator dictator
• • • • •
organiser facilitator leader mentor decision-maker
Explain your choice; what management style are they close to? Describe the management style in your family. If you were a manager, what style would you have?
READING 1 1. Work in groups of three. Each of you read about one of the management styles — Directing, Discussing or Delegating — and decide which of the following statements are true for your style. 1 2 3 4
It is up to employees to keep the manager up to date on progress. Managers set strict time limits. Managers encourage staff to put forward their ideas. Managers and employees decide together what needs to be achieved. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS READING 1
5 Decisions are made by managers and their staff. 6 Employees get precise instructions. 7 Managers do not want employees to avoid making decisions which employees should make. 8 Managers have tight control of employees’ movements and work schedules. 9 When employees are given tasks, they decide how to complete them.
The Big Three Management Styles by Paul B. Thornton
Management literature describes numerous management styles, including assertive, autocratic, coaching, country club, directing, delegating, laissez-faire, participatory, supportive, task-oriented and team-based. Are there really that many styles? I believe there are three basic styles — directing, discussing and delegating, the 3-Ds of Management Style. Directing Style Managers using this style tell people what to do, how to do it and when to have it completed. They assign roles and responsibilities, set standards and deadline expectations. Communicating – The manager speaks, employees listen and react. Managers provide detailed instructions so employees know exactly what to do. The ability to communicate in a clear, concise and complete fashion is critical. The only feedback managers ask for is, ‘Do you understand what needs to be done?’ Goal-Setting – ‘Your goal is to sell 15 cars per month.’ The manager establishes short-term goals. When goals are specific and time bounded, employees are clear on what is expected of them. Goals and deadlines often motivate people. Decision-Making – ‘I want you to stop what you are currently doing and help Sue set up the room for the seminar.’ The manager makes most if not all decisions. When problems arise the manager evaluates options, makes decisions and directs employees as to what actions to take. Monitoring Performance and Providing Feedback – Managers establish specific control points to monitor performance. ‘Get back to me at 11:00 a.m. to brief me on what you have accomplished.’ Managers provide frequent feedback including specific instructions on how to improve performance. Discussing Style Managers using this style take time to discuss relevant business issues. What happens in a good discussion? People present ideas, ask questions, listen, provide feedback, challenge certain assumptions and coach as needed. It’s important to make sure ideas are fully discussed and debated. Managers often perform the role of facilitator, making sure the discussion stays on track and everyone has a chance to contribute. Communicating – Two-way communication is the norm. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS READING 1
‘Let’s go around the table and give everyone a chance to discuss their ideas.’ Managers spend as much time asking questions and listening as they do talking and sharing their ideas. The right question focuses the discussion and draws out people’s ideas. Goal-Setting – ‘Ingrid, what do you think our sales target should be for the fourth quarter?’ After adequate discussion, goals are then established. Utilising a participatory style generally helps to increase employees’ commitment to achieve their goals. Decision-Making – ‘We have a problem with the amount of inventory we’re currently carrying. What action do you think we should take?’ Decisions are made collaboratively. Both manager and employees play an active role in defining problems, evaluating options, and making decisions. Monitoring Performance and Providing Feedback – The manager and employees monitor performance and discuss what actions need to be taken. This works best when both parties are open and make adjustments as needed. Delegating Style Managers using this style usually explain or get agreement on what has to be accomplished and when it must be completed. The how-to-do-it part of the equation is left up to the employee. Responsibility and authority are given to employees to get the job done. Communicating – Regarding what has to be accomplished, communication may be one-way: ‘I want you to deliver a 15-minute presentation on our new compensation programme at Tuesday’s meeting.’ In other situations it may be two-way: ‘Let’s discuss what needs to be accomplished in the marketing brochure you’re designing.’ Additional communication takes place to review what has been accomplished and obstacles preventing progress. Goal-Setting – As stated above, specific goals may be established by the manager or may evolve after a discussion between manager and employee. Failures in delegation can often be traced back to a lack of understanding of the desired output or deliverable. ‘I thought you only wanted recommendations, not an implementation plan. Decision-Making – ‘Barbara, that’s your decision to make. ’Decisions as to how the task will be accomplished are left to the employee. Employees have the power to take appropriate actions to achieve the desired goals. Managers must avoid ‘reverse delegation’ when employees try to give back decisions that they should be making. Monitoring Performance and Providing Feedback – ‘I want a weekly update on plan accomplishments.’ Managers decide how much monitoring is necessary. The amount of monitoring depends on the priority of the task and the person doing it. Providing feedback is the responsibility of the employee. Keeping the manager informed, especially when the plan is off track, is critical. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS READING 1
2. Meet as one group and summarise the main features of the style you have just read about to the others in your group. 3. Which of the three management styles would you prefer to: a) use as a manager? b) experience as an employee? 4. Match the word partnerships in groups 1 and 2, then check your answers in the article. Group 1 1 2 3 4 5 6
establish monitor provide set make assign
a) feedback b) goals c) decisions d) performance e) roles f) standards
Group 2 1 2 3 4 5
present achieve direct take improve
a) action b) employees c) ideas d) performance e) goals
5. Check the following word partnerships. Find the odd one in each group. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
check / assess / look make / achieve / establish reach / do / implement meet / set / get establish / assign / make reach / deliver / achieve come up / make / present achieve / direct / guide
performance goals decisions standards roles goals ideas employees
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Leadership Can leadership be taught? Or are the only real leader born leader? ‘Traditionally, the model for leadership in business has been the army. Managers and army officers give orders and their subordinates (the people working bellow them) carry them out. Managers, like army officers, may be sent on leadership courses to develop their leadership skills, their ability to lead. But they still need a basic flair or talent for leadership. What makes a great leader?
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT
‘The greatest leaders have dynamism, an attractive quality that makes other people admire them and want to follow them. A leader may be described as a visionary, someone with the power to see clearly how things are going to be in the future. People often say leader have drive, dynamism and energy.’ Modern management styles How have management styles changed in the last few years? ‘Before, leaders were distant and remote, not easy to get to know or communicate with. Today, managers are more open and approachable: you can talk to them easily. There is more management by consensus, where decisions are not imposed from above in a top-down approach, but arrived at by asking employees to contribute in a process of consultation. Do you think this trend will continue? ‘Yes. There are more women managers now, who are often more able to build consensus than traditional military-style authoritarian male managers.’ Empowerment What, exactly, is empowerment? ‘Encouraging employees to use their own initiative, to take decisions on their own without asking managers first, is empowerment. Decision-making becomes more decentralized and less bureaucratic, less dependent on managers and system. This is often necessary where the number of management level is reduced. To empower employees, managers need the ability to delegate, to give other people responsibility for work rather than doing it all themselves. Of course, with empowerment and delegation, the problem is keeping control of your operations: a key issue of modern management.’ 1. Find the synonyms to make pairs. subordinates skills objective surplus empowerment delegate approachable
strive visionary organize accessible intuition impose employees
entrust distant dictate abilities foreteller try
flair goal profit remote establish authority
2. Match the sentence beginnings with the correct endings. 1 We are looking for a new CEO, someone with strong leadership 2 Richard has real managerial flair 3 In the police, leader are held responsible 4 The study concludes that a charismatic visionary leader is absolutely not required for a visionary company Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT
5 She is an extraordinary leader 6 Thatcher had drive, energy and vision, 7 He was a born leader. When everyone else was discussing a but many thought it was the wrong vision. b and, in fact, can be bad for a company’s long-term prospects. c and has won the respect of colleagues and employees. d for the actions of their subordinates. e skills and experience with financial institutions. f what to do, he knew exactly what to do. g who will bring dynamism and energy to the job. 3. Complete the crossword with the correct forms of words, given in the vocabulary list. Across 1,7 down What managers do, with or without talking to employees. 5 Adjective to describe leading without consultation. 8 Not easy to talk. 9 See 13 across 11 What the type of boss in 5 across does not do. 13, 9 Managers deciding without talking to employees is a ….. – down …… . 14 If managers ask employees to take on responsibility, they ….. . 15 If all the decisions are not made in a company’s head office, it is …… . Down 2 To allow employees to decide things for themselves. 3 An organization where there are a lot of rules and procedures is …… . 4 If you decide without asking a manager, you use ……… . 6 The adjective relating to ‘consensus’. 7 See 1 across. 10 If decisions are not arrived at by consensus, they are …… . 12 Easy to see and talk to.
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PART 2 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT AND REQUIRED SKILLS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10
11 12 13
14
15
READING 2 1. Discuss the question in small groups. Which would you prefer to work for? a) a male boss b) a female boss c) either – you don’t have a preference? 2. Read the paragraphs of two articles. What is the main point made by the writer in each case? a) Women are more efficient and trustworthy, have a better understanding of their workforce are more generous with their praise. In short they make the best managers, and if men are to keep up they will have to start learning from their female counterparts, a report claims today. b) How do you like your boss? Sympathetic, empowering and not too busy, probably. They will be aware of the pressure of your job, but delegate responsibility where it’s appropriate. They will be interested in your career development. Oh, and, preferably, they will be male. 3. Work in pairs. One of you reads article A. the other reads article B. Summarise each paragraph in a single sentence of no more than 15 words. Then give a summary of the whole article to your partner.
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Article A
Who would you rather work for? Women are more efficient and trustworthy, have a better understanding of their workforce are more generous with their praise. In short they make the best managers, and if men are to keep up they will have to start learning from their female counterparts, a report claims today. The survey of 1,000 male and female middle and senior managers from across the UK is an indictment of the ability of men to function as leaders in the modern workplace. A majority of those questioned believed women had a more modern outlook on their profession and were more open minded and considerate. By way of contrast, a similar number believe male managers are egocentric and more likely to steal credit for work done by others. Management today magazine, which conduct the research, said that after years having to adopt a masculine identity and hide their emotions and natural behaviour in the workplace, women have become role models for managers. The finding tally with a survey of female bosses carried out in the US. A five-year study of 2,500 managers from 450 firms found that many male bosses were rated by their staff of both sexes to be self-obsessed and autocratic. Women on the other hand leave men in the starting blocks when it comes to teamwork and communicating with staff. In Britain more than 61% of those surveyed said men did not make better bosses than women. Female managers use time more effectively, with many of those surveyed commenting that juggling commitment is a familiar practice for women with a home and a family. Female manages also appear to make good financial sense for pennypinching companies: most people, of either sex, would rather ask for a rise from a man. ‘If men want to be successful at work they must behave more like women,’ said the magazine’s editor, Rufus Olins. ‘Businesses need to wake up to the fact that so-called feminine skills are vital for attracting and keeping the right people. In the past women who aspired to management were encouraged to be more manly. It looks now as if the boot is on the other foot.’
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Article B
Which bosses are the best? How do you like your boss? Sympathetic, empowering and not too busy, probably. They will be aware of the pressure of your job, but delegate responsibility where it’s appropriate. They will be interested in your career development. Oh, and, preferably, they will be male. One should not, of course, assume that all secretaries are female, but women still make up the overwhelming majority. So it makes uncomfortable reading for those who like to believe that a sort and cuddly sisterhood exists in the previously macho office environment, where women look out for their own. The findings also raise questions about neat predictions of a fiminised future for management, where ‘womanly‘ traits such as listening skills, flexibility and a more empathetic manner will become normal office currency. Business psychologist John Nicholson is surprised by the survey’s findings, asserting that ‘the qualities valued today in a successful boss are feminine, not masculine’. He is emphatic that women make better bosses. ‘They listen more, are less status-conscious, conduct crisper meetings, are much more effective negotiators and display greater flexibility’. They are also considerably more common than they used to be. According to information group Experian, women are no longer scarce in the boardroom – they occupy a third of the seats round the conference table. Women directors are still relatively uncommon in older age groups, but among young directors the proportion is growing. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a reluctance to work for a woman may be more a question of management style than substance. ‘It’s just women bosses’ attitude,’ says Martha, a PA for 25 years who has worked predominantly for women, including a high-profile politician. ‘It’s something women have that men don’t. When they are critical they are much more personal, whereas men sail through not taking a blind bit of notice.’ Sonia Neill, a former secretary at Marks and Spenser, has experienced power struggles between women even where there was a significant disparity in status. ‘Women either find it awkward to give you work or they try to assert themselves by giving you really menial tasks. Men never do that.
4. Find words in the articles with the following meanings. Article A Article B 1 people with the same jobs as each 6 aspects of a person’s character other 2 a clear sign that a system isn’t 7 absolutely convinced working 3 thinking only about yourself 8 based on stories about personal Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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4 giving orders without asking others for their opinions 5 wanted to achieve an important goal
experience 9 a difference between things 10 behave in a determined way
5. From the two texts, find as many characteristics as possible that are attributed to female managers. 6. Which ideas expressed in two articles do you agree with? Do you find any of these ideas surprising?
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READING 3
2. Read the text and see if the writer’s ideas are the same with yours.
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3. The text has eight subsections. Match the cartoons with the sections.
Men and women do things differently. There are, of course, exceptions to every generalization, including this one. Cristina Stuart is a managing director of Speakeasy Training, a consultancy that runs courses for men and women working together. Here she describes a few key differences between the sexes in the workplace. 1 Working together The male approach to business is competitive, direct and confrontational. The end justifies the means.* Personal status and a focus on the individual are important. The female method is collaborative. Collective action and responsibility are more important than personal achievement. Lateral thinking*, as well as goodwill and the well-being of the individual, are also of great importance. 2 Tackling problems The male approach is to go to the heart of the problem, without taking into account secondary considerations. The female preference is to look at various options. 3 Body language Male body language tends to be challenging. Female body language tends towards self-protection. A stereotypical female pose is sitting cross-legged; the male sits with legs apart to give an impression that he is in control. Male behaviour can include forceful gestures, for example banging a fist on the desk for effect. The female style does not usually include aggressive gestures. 4 Language The male way of speaking does not encourage discussion. Women tend to welcome others opinions and contributions more. 5 Conversation Men like to talk about their personal experiences and achievements or discuss ‘masculine’ topics such as cars or sport. Women tend to talk about staff problems and personal matters. 6 Meetings If a woman does not copy the male confrontational style, she is often ignored. 7 Self-promotion Men find it easy to tell others about their successes. Women tend to share or pass on the credit for a success.
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8 Humour Men’s humour can be cruel – a man’s joke usually has a victim. Female humour is less hurtful. A woman often jokes against herself. CAVEAT Many men have a female style of working. Equally many women have a male approach. As Ms. Stuart says many of the current management theorems – flatter organisations*, empowerment, managing by consensus* - have a female style to them. *the end justifies the means: it doesn’t matter what methods you use; success is the only important thing *lateral thinking: thinking in a creative way, making unusual connections *flatter organisation: organisations in which there are fewer managers and people have equal status *managing by consensus: managing by getting everyone to agree
4. According to the text, which of these phrases are typically used by men and which by women? Example: ‘It’s very simple. The point is …’ Men because ‘the male approach is to go to the heart of the matter’. 1 ‘But we need to take account of …’ 2 ‘You look worried. What do you think about the new plan?’ 3 ‘That’s rubbish!’ 4 ‘I built the department from nothing.’ 5 ‘Thanks for your kind words, but this really was a team effort.’ 6 ‘It was so funny. He looked ridiculous!’ 5. Work in groups and discuss the questions. Prepare a poster to present your ideas. What is the style of male and female managers in companies in your country? Are they similar to the ones outlined in the text? Do you think there is a difference in style between men and women or is any difference usually because of personality? WRITING Write a composition ‘Female managers are generally better managers than male managers’.
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READING 4 1. Douglas Ivester is Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola. Before you read the article about him, discuss what qualities you expect him to have. 2. Now read the article and complete the fact sheet given after the text. Focus on Douglas Ivester, CEO of Coca-Cola Ivester, a factory foreman’s son and former accountant, stepped in smoothly to run Coca-Cola as CEO following the death of champion wealth creator Roberto Goizueta. Early in his job as Coke’s chief, Goizueta had recognised Ivester’s drive, commenting that he was the hardest-working man he had ever met. Together the two changed the company’s operations and capital structure to maximize shareholder value. Both of Ivester’s parents were factory workers from a tiny mill town in Georgia. His parents were children of the depression, he recalls, ‘strong savers, very strong religious values,’ and had very high expectations for their only son. If he got an A, his father would say, ‘They give A pluses, don’t they?’ Doug Ivester is the guy who for nearly two years worked constantly to provide essential support to Roberto Goizueta as he not only turned Coca-Cola around but made it into a powerhouse. If you want to know just how driven Ivester is, know that more than a decade ago he set himself the goal of becoming the CEO and chairman of Coca-Cola. Then he put on paper the dates by which he intended to do that. By comparison with Goizueta, Ivester is an accountant by training, an introvert by nature. He worked systematically to obtain the breadth needed to be a modem chief executive –getting media coaching and spending three years’ worth of Saturdays, six hours at a time, being tutored in marketing. He is a straight arrow, constantly encouraging his executives to ‘do the right thing’, yet he is fascinated with Las Vegas, which he visits once a year, gambling and people-watching a lot. He is big on discipline, which to him means: be where you’re supposed to be. Dress the part (he is opposed to casual Fridays). Return phone calls promptly (employees know never to get too far away from their office voice-mail, even on weekends). Still, when directing his troops, he asks them to set ‘aspirations’ (difficult targets). Hierarchy is out – it slows everything down; he communicates freely with people at all levels. The ‘conventional’ desk job is also out. Ivester prefers that employees think of themselves as knowledge workers - their office is the information they carry around with them, supported by technology that allows them to work anywhere. This really matters when your business is as large as Coke’s, which gets 80% of its profit from overseas.
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At Coke, business planning is no longer an annual ritual but a continual discussion – sometimes via voice-mail - among top executives. Technology is not just nice; it’s crucial. Huge volumes of information don’t frighten Ivester; he insists that they are necessary for ‘real-time’ decision-making. With pastgeneration executives, their style was more ‘don’t bring me your problems, bring me your solutions,’ says Tim Haas, Senior Vice President and Head of Latin America. ‘Doug thrives on finding the solutions.’ ‘In a world this complicated and fast-moving, a CEO can’t afford to sit in the executive suite and guess,’ Ivester says. He believes that many of America’s executives ‘are getting terribly isolated.’ From Fortune Magazine
Douglas Ivester Parents’ background/values:
Personal qualities:
Present position:
Management style/beliefs:
Previous job: Cola:
Previous boss:
Achievements at Coca-
Hobbies:
3. Answer these questions about the article. 1 The writer says that ‘Goizueta had recognised Ivester’s drive’ (paragraph 1). What does drive mean? How did Ivester show that he had this quality? 2 ‘They give A pluses, don’t they?’ (paragraph 2). Who is Ivester’s father referring too when he says they? 3 How did lvester prepare for the position he now holds? 4 Explain the meaning of this sentence: ‘Dress the part (he is opposed to casual Fridays)’ (paragraph 5). Do you agree with this policy? 5 Why does Ivester want employees to think of themselves as ‘knowledge workers’? 6 Ivester believes that many American executives ‘are getting terribly isolated.’ What is Ivester doing to avoid becoming cut off from his staff? 4. Find words and phrases in the article which mean the following: 1 Someone who has greatly increased the company’s profits (paragraph 1). 2 A time of high unemployment and poverty (paragraph 2). 3 A very successful, profitable company (paragraph 3). 4 Very determined to succeed (paragraph 3). 5 Carefully, following a fixed plan (paragraph 4). 6 Organising people into different levels of importance (paragraph 6).
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7 Something that happens regularly each year (paragraph 7). 8 Gets a feeling of satisfaction from doing something (paragraph 7). 5. Discuss these questions. 1 What do you think Douglas Ivester’s main objectives should be as Leader of Coca-Cola? 2 What sort of problems do you think he has to deal with when running the company? Project work: Using different sources, find information about a well-known manager. Analyse this information paying attention to the following points: family background personal qualities management style Make a Power Point presentation and explain the manager’s success.
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PART 3 WORKING CONDITIONS Elements of success Work in groups and make up a list of factors which influence the success of a company. READING 1. Read the article about the Ikea company, the home furnishings retail giant, and its founder. Which of the following statements about Ingvar Kamprad are true? • drives an old car • is careful with money • travels first class • dresses smartly • is dyslexic • loves detail • is formal • makes short-term decisions The bolt that holds the Ikea Empire together Ingvar Kamprad is no ordinary multi-billionaire. The founder of the Ikea furniture empire travels economy class, drives a 10-year-old Volvo and buys his fruit and vegetables in the afternoon, when prices are often cheaper. Ask him about luxuries in his life and he says: ‘From time to time, I like to buy a nice shirt and cravat and eat Swedish caviar.’ Mr. Kamprad is one of the Europe’s greatest post-war entrepreneurs. What began as a mail-order business in 1943 has grown into an international retailing phenomenon across 31 countries, with 70,000 employees. Sales have risen every single year. The Ikea catalogue is the world’s biggest annual print run – an incredible 110m copies a year. And Mr. Kamprad has grown extraordinary rich. He is worth $13.4bn (£8.7bn) and is the 17th richest person in the world, according to Forbes, the US magazine. The concept behind Ikea’s amazing success is unbelievably simple: make affordable, well-designed furniture available to the masses. And then there is Mr. Kamprad himself – charismatic, humble, private. It is his ideas and values that are at the core of the Ikea’s philosophy. Best known for his extremely modest lifestyle, he washes plastic cups to recycle them. He has just left his long-standing Swedish barber because he found one in Switzerland, where he lives, who charges only SFr 14(£6) for a cut. ‘That’s a reasonable amount,’ he chuckles. All Ikea executives are aware of the value of cost-consciousness. They are strongly discouraged from travelling first or business class. ‘There is no better form of leadership than setting a good example. I could never accept that I should travel first class while my colleagues sit in tourist class,’ Mr. Kamprad says.
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PART 3 WORKING CONDITIONS Elements of success
As he walks around the group’s stores, he expresses the feeling of ‘togetherness’ physically, clasping and hugging his employees. This is very uncharacteristic of Sweden. ‘Call me Ingvar,’ he says to staff. The informality and lack of hierarchy are emphasised by his dress style, with an open-necked shirt preferred to a tie. Mr. Kamprad has had both personal and business battles. He has fought against dyslexia and illness. One of Mr. Kamprad’s characteristics is his obsessive attention to detail. When he visits his stores, he talks not only to the managers but also to floor staff and customers. A recent visit to six of the group’s Swedish stores has produced ‘100 details to discuss,’ he says. By his own reckoning, his greatest strength is choosing the right people to run his business. He is determined that the group will not go public, because short-term shareholder demands conflict with long-term planning. ‘I hate short-termist decisions. If you want to take long-lasting decisions, it’s very difficult to be on the stock exchange. When entering the Russian market, we had to decide to lose money for 10 years.’ Mr. Kamprad has been slowly withdrawing from the business since 1986, when he stepped down as a group president. He maintains that he is still ‘too much involved and in too many details,’ although he admits to a distinct reluctance to withdraw altogether. The question is: can there be an eternal Ikea without Mr. Kamprad? Does the group depend too much on its founder? Will the empire continue, as control of Ikea gradually moves to Mr. Kamprad’s three sons? From the Financial Times
2. Read the article again and make notes about Mr. Kamprad. Wealth
Personality
Lifestyle
Leadership style
3. Find words or phrases in the article that match these definitions. a) an awareness of the price of things b) the feeling you have when you are a part of group of people who have a close relationship with each other c) a relaxed or friendly situation without too many rules of correct behaviour d) the lack of a system in an organisation where a group of people have power or control e) an extremely strong focus on every small fact or piece of information
4. Using the information from the table above, discuss the questions: 1. What, in your opinion, are the strengths and weaknesses of Ingvar Kamprad?
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PART 3 WORKING CONDITIONS Elements of success
2. Would you like to work for him? 3. When is the correct time for a leader or founder to leave his or her company? prepare a poster to present the key points of this company’s success.
Motivation A Have you ever thought about your working style? Are you a team worker, a finisher, a supporter or a leader? How do you understand these working styles? This questionnaire will help you to find out. 1 Read the 30 statements and tick the ones you agree with. You have only ten minutes so do not spend time thinking deeply about each statement. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers, so be honest! 1 I usually meet up with my colleagues socially. 2 I often find it difficult to advise people on what to do. 3 Workplace crèches are a good idea. 4 I can never remember staff birthdays. 5 I am an extrovert most of the time. 6 My boss is hardly ever interested in my opinion. 7 I am just paid to get results. 8 I often feel that people do their jobs better than me. 9 I wish I was somebody else from time to time. 10 I would only work for an employer who treated men and women equally. 11 I have always recognised my strengths. 12 I frequently work overtime and I don’t mind doing this. 13 I can usually help people with their personal problems. 14 I usually know all the office gossip. 15 I don’t find jokes about minority groups funny. 16 I think that problems at home can sometimes become problems at work. 17 I recognise my faults. 18 I hardly ever take part in gossiping during work hours. 19 I don’t often enjoy doing nothing. 20 When people criticise me, I sometimes get depressed. 21 I usually get on well with my colleagues. 22 I always enjoy meeting new people. 23 I often take work home with me. 24 I daydream a lot. 25 I like working with computers. 26 I always enjoy job interviews. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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27 My colleagues usually enjoy my company. 28 Promotion should always be based on length of service in a company. 29 Taking important decisions hardly ever worries me. 30 The job will still be there tomorrow 2 Work out your score. Circle the answers you ticked, then add up how many As, Bs, Cs and Ds you have. Now read the analysis below. Do you agree with it? 1 A 11 D 21 D 4 B 14 A 24 C 7 B 17 C 27 D
2 A 12 B 22 D 5 D 15 A 25 B 8 C 18 B 28 C
3 A 13 B 23 B 6 C 16 A 26 D 9 C 19 B 29 D
10 A 20 C 30 A
Mostly A’s: You are a Team Worker Your relationship with your colleagues is important to you and many may also be friends. You are good at working with others to solve problems. You are a good listener. You understand others’ points of view and have a lot of respect for people. You are usually a popular member of the team. Mostly B’s: You are a Finisher You are always very task-centred and committed to getting the job done. You identify strongly with your organization and often hide your true feelings. Sometimes your colleagues find you a little difficult to get to know. Mostly C’s: You are a Supporter You usually think of others in a more positive light than yourself. You occasionally lack confidence and depend too much on other people. However, as you put others’ needs before your own, you are often highly valued in an organisation. Mostly D’s: You are a Leader You are usually confident and clear about what you want and how to get it. You show a lot of respect for others. Good listening skills come naturally to you as you frequently like to understand others’ opinions before making a decision. B When you apply for a job, what factors would be important for you? Write down your ideas and compare them with your partner.
READING 1 1. Read the text and continue your list of job priorities. Dream job A good job means different things to different people. Some people would just like to do nothing and get paid. Others feel that the more they work the Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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PART 3 WORKING CONDITIONS READING 1
happier they are. There are a lot of people who prefer to be told what to do. Some of us enjoy being solo and taking all the responsibilities for the work we do. There are also those who enjoy the feeling of being part of the team or belonging to an organization or a group of people. We enjoy doing what we know how to do and what we feel professionally competent to do. Lots of people are also very sensitive to the status of their job, which is the value which is attributed by the society to this or that profession at a given moment of time. The pay is recognized to be a very important factor in job satisfaction. The salary is way to reach basic needs, many people also view it as a symbol of the value of their work by the society and the company. Health-insurance, free training or family vacations can be a substantial part of what an employee gets from his company. But material incentives are not always number one. There are people who would prefer status, the reputation of the company they work for, or moral satisfaction over the pay. Promotion opportunities may be high on the priority list for many people. There are certain jobs in which you reach your target very fast. You can raise your position after you improve your professional skills. Often individuals who are promoted on the basis of seniority do not experience as much satisfaction as those who are promoted on the basis of job performance. Most of people view supervision or management as an important part of their job satisfaction. In Russia with its highly personalized touch in human relations it is extremely important to have a boss who communicates with the worker on a personal as well as an official level. The nature of the work group or people you work with is another important factor or job satisfaction. The work group may vary in age, social status and educational background. Working together with diversified groups may either bring satisfaction or disappointment and anxiety. Working conditions may also have an effect on our job satisfaction. If the working conditions are good and we work in attractive, clean surroundings, we find it easier to carry out our job. On the other hand, if the working conditions are poor we find it more difficult to get things done. Many of us do not give working conditions a great deal of thought unless they are extremely bad. Not all the companies provide their employees with recreation facilities or even a place to have lunch. In Russia where office space is always a problem we often suffer from being crowded and having no personal space. All these factors are very important. Just as you don't marry the first man or woman you met, you don’t have to stick to the job that makes you unhappy, making everybody about you unhappy too. You can always make a change! 2. Choose your top five and rank them in order of priority. Explain your choice. 3. Divide all these criteria into groups. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Working conditions
working hours
environment
pay
fringe benefits
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T My work is so rewarding ‘I work in advertising. I love my work, which is really rewarding and stimulating (satisfying, fascinating, exciting). Originality and creativity are very important in this industry, of course. No two days are the same (repetitive, routine) in my job: I could be contacting film companies for new advertising campaigns one day and giving client presentations the next. I like the client contact and I am very much hands-on – being involved with the productive work of the agency rather than managing it. When I joined the agency, I hit it off with my colleagues immediately and I still get on well with them. There is a very good rapport between us.’ I like the team work ‘I’m an aircraft engineer. I work on the research and development of new aircraft. I like putting ideas into practice. I like working on my own, but it’s also great being part of a team. I like the team work and the sense of achievement when we do something new. And of course, the planes we produce are very beautiful. Is there anything I don’t like? I dislike days when I’m chained to desk. I don’t like admin and paperwork – sometimes I feel I’m snowed under with it. I think it is so dull, boring and unstimulating. And in a large organization like ours, there can be a lot of red tape and bureaucracy-rigid procedures that can slow thing down.’ I want to make a contribution ‘I’m a secondary school teacher. It’s a low-paid job but I want to help people and make a contribution to society. That’s what gives me motivation. My job gives me a lot of satisfaction. The work can be stretching, taking me to the limits of my skills and knowledge. Sometimes it’s tiring and tough. But it’s great to kids developing and learning. Of course, they can be difficult and demanding, but sometimes we get recognition from parents that we are doing a good job! But I
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PART 3 WORKING CONDITIONS VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT
don’t like unnecessary interference – I don’t like people breathing down my neck.’ Nature of work
My work involves
+ noun human contact long hours team work + ing solving problems traveling a lot dealing with customers
…
1. Complete this table with the related forms. Verb Noun Adjective contribute create demand excite fascinate motivate originate recognize repeat reward satisfy 2. Complete the sentences with expressions from vocabulary. 1 Work that is interesting and exciting is ……… and ……… . 2 If you spend time with customers, you have ……… . 3 If you have a good working relationship with your colleagues, you ……… well with them. 4 If you do the actual work of the organization rather than being a manager, you are ………-…… . 5 If you want to say that work is not repetitive, you can say, ‘………………’. 6 ……… and ……… are when you have new and effective ideas that people have not had before.
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3. The aircraft engineer talks about his work. Complete his statements with necessary expressions. 1
4
Sometimes I work late at the office when everyone has gone home. I like ___ ___ ___ ____ .
5 2
3
It’s great to see what I learnt during my engineering course at university being applied in actual designs. I like _____ .
I hate it when there is a big stack of documents and letters on my desk that I have to deal with. I don’t like ____ and _____ . 7
6
I love the ____ ____ involved when we all work together to create something new.
It’s rare, but sometimes when I come into the office and see a huge pile of work waiting for me, I feel completely ___ ___ .
When we see a new plane fly for the first time, we all feel a great ___ ___ ___ .
I get frustrated when you have to get permission to spend anything over £50. I don’t like ___ and ___ ___.
4. a) Five people talk about their jobs. Match the jobs (1-5) to the people (a-e) and put the words in brackets into the correct forms. 1 accountant 2 postwoman
3 flight attendant 4 software developer
5 teacher
a Obviously, my work involves ……… (travel) a lot. It can be quite physically ……… (tire), I enjoy ……… (deal) with customers, except when they become violent. Luckily this doesn’t happen often. b I like ……… (work) with figures, but my job is much less ……… (bore) and routine than people think. The work ……… (involve) a lot of human contact and teamwork, working with other managers. c Of course, it involves getting up quite easily in the morning. But I like ……… (be) out in the open air. And I get a lot of exercise! d You’ve got to think in a very logical way. The work can be mentally ……… (tire), but it’s very satisfying to write a program that works. e I love my job. It’s very ……… (stimulate) and not at all ……… (repeat): no two days are the same. It’s good to see the children learn and develop. b) Choose two jobs you like. Using the words from the vocabulary, describe these jobs. Your partners will guess the job. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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V OC A B U L A R Y 2 1. Match the items which are similar in meaning. 1 bureaucracy 2 autonomy 3 burnout 4 pay 5 appraisal 6 perks 7 golden handshake
a) assessment b) remuneration c) fringe benefits d) severance package e) independence f) breakdown g) red tape
2. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in bold. Sometimes you will need to use a negative form using a prefix ( un-, dis-, de-). 1 satisfy a) Women are more ……… with their jobs than men in many countries. b) Low pay and poor working conditions create …….. workers. c) Small European countries are at the top of job ………… league tables. 2 motivate a) What are the strongest ……. factors in people's lives? b) Workers become ……….. if they work long hours for low pay. c) What was your ………… for becoming a salesperson? 3 fulfil a) Becoming Department Head was the ………… of a lifelong ambition. b) He ………. his role as manager very effectively. c) I feel ……….. in my job because I am not given enough responsibility. 4 inspire a) Jack Welch was an ……….. business leader who motivated employees. b) He has been an ………… to the new members of staff. c) After an …………launch, the new model quickly failed. 5 frustrate a) You could see the ……….. building up in the workforce. b) I find talking to him …………. because he never listens to anything I say. c) I felt so …………… with their attitude that I decided to resign. 3. Use the words from the box to complete the paragraph. raw materials salary social interaction labour consumer profile status features labour costs benefits advertisement taxes styles of management Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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A company’s marketing department should decide what type of person will buy their product and have a 1 _____ _____ or description of the consumer in mind. They can design their advertisements. A good 2 ______ should describe the 3 _____ or characteristics of the product as well as the 4 ______ or advantages of buying the product. The price of a product depends on various factors. Production costs are affected by the availability of 5 ______, or workers and the availability of 6 ______, or the things needed to make the goods. How much the company has to pay the workers, or 7 ______, is another factor, and also the amount the government charges the company in 8 _____. The people who work for a company, or the company’s labour force are the company’s most important asset. Many different things motivate people to work, such as 9 ______, or money, 10 ______ or the position they hold in the company and society and the opportunity for 11 _____ _____ and to meet other people. Different people like different things, and the way managers treat employees, i.e. their 12 ______ can be very important. 4. Using different sources, find information about basic theories of motivation. Prepare the summary of their main ideas. 5. a) Complete the passage about job satisfaction with five appropriate words from the box. accomplishment accountable acknowledgement conclusion limited numerous satisfying
evaluation
Factors contributing to job satisfaction Frederick Irving Herzberg (1923 - 2000) was a management professor at the University of Utah known internationally for his work on helping companies understand how to motivate workers and increase productivity. He is known for his 'Motivation-Hygiene Theory. According to Herzberg, five factors increase job satisfaction and staff motivation to perform: 1 Achievement i.e., a sense of ............... 1 or successful closure of a task or activity 2 Recognition i.e., the ……… 2 of an individual's or group's efforts, or contributions 3 Challenging work For work to be ............... 3, there must be tasks that are challenging or motivating. Just as each individual prefers some tasks to others, each finds some tasks more challenging than others. 4 Responsibility When staff feel responsible and .........…4 for their own work, and when Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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they are somehow involved in the decision-making process, their job satisfaction increases. 5 Growth and development Everyone needs to continue to grow and develop personally and professionally on the job. When there are …….. 5 opportunities for growth and development, motivation decreases. Staff may commit energy to other aspects of their personal lives, seek other employment, or burn out. b) Managers can enhance the five factors described in exercise A in a number of ways. Match each statement below, a) - h), with one of the factors from exercise a. Managers can: 5 a) advocate educational or special training leave for staff b) encourage staff to attend training programmes and conferences, followed by presentations at meetings about what they learned c) encourage staff to contribute to the agenda for meetings d) set clear, realistic professional goals, and set goals with individual employees regarding specific activities e) give a genuinely positive performance evaluation f) gradually increase staff autonomy and decision making as they gain expertise g) highlight staff efforts and contributions in meetings h) promote staff or encourage them to apply for promotions in appreciation of their work
READING 2 1. Read the article and formulate its main idea in 2-3 sentences. Perks that work By Robert Burke
Keeping people happy is an increasingly tough trick. With unemployment at record lows, ‘companies are trying just about anything1 to retain employees, says Jay Doherty of the New York-based human-resources consulting firm William M. Mercer Inc. Not only are employees being pampered, they’re getting more money, better benefits and help with personal problems such as child care and financial planning. Bosses once shunned such intervention. Retention ‘is no longer a human resource issue, it’s a business issue’ Doherty says. Because technology companies face the tightest labor markets, they have been the most aggressive in devising ways to keep workers. Herndon-based Net2000 Communications, for example, puts top performers behind the wheel of
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luxury cars like a BMW323i or Z3. Micro Strategy, a Vienna-based data miner, goes a step further and has hosted all of its employees on Caribbean cruises. Such perks are great for the employee, but do they make sense for the company? Maybe. Doherty says all companies-including technology firms –‘have to be careful they don’t create a business model that’s not profitable.’ Don’t throw money at workers who want to leave because pay raises don’t always work. Perks and benefits can be effective, but they have to be custom-fit to the company and the business sector. Don’t add new perks just because they seem like hot trends, he says. ‘Too often there’s desperation sometimes to just try anything, and it’s very expensive MicroStrategy, which reported lower earnings earlier this year, has been rethinking its cruises, for example.’ Yet companies still face labor crunches that can really hurt. How do you keep workers? Start by making them feel they’re part of a special place with a unique culture. 'We want to hire people that are totally aligned with our values,’ says Tim Huval, general manager for South Dakota-based Gateway’s 2,200employee call center and manufacturing facility in Hampton. ‘Honesty, efficiency, aggressiveness, respect, teamwork, caring, common sense and fun. Those are values that we live by’. Richmond-based Xperts also lives by the value system. Founder and CEO William Tyler pushes pairing quality of life with a sense of social responsibility. Workers can designate which non-profit groups Xperts contributes to, for example. A strong culture makes it hard for people to leave, Tyler says. ‘They don’t have an urge to leave because they’ve found a home. They’re happy.’ Notice this corporate culture stuff doesn’t say much about shareholders or profit. It’s a decidedly employee-centric approach. ‘If you ask any of them, they’re all going to say, ‘Pay me more money.’ But that’s not the truth,’ Tyler says. ‘What people are looking for is, ‘A place that’s looking out for me.’’ What that means is helping employees cope with problems they face outside the office. ‘That is where companies can build employee loyalty,’ says Barbara Bailey of William M. Mercer’s Richmond office. One popular tool is revamping leave policies to create ‘flexible leave banks’ that put all employee leave into a single category. Employees take time off when they need it and don’t have to call it a sick day or vacation. ‘Work-life issues are huge,’ Bailey says. ‘You make them feel as though they’re not in interested in looking elsewhere, because they’re very happy with their life.’ From Virginia Business Online
2. Look through the article again. In which lines are these ideas mentioned? 1 money is a less important motivator than a caring company 2 giving employees more choice how they organise their time away from work 3 the disadvantages of offering perks 4 creating an atmosphere and culture which employees feel they belong to 5 examples of up-market perks offered by technology companies 6 the increased benefits being offered to employees
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3. Look in the article to complete these word partnerships. For example: personal problems 1 personal …………….... 5 common..................... 2 financial..................... 6 social..................... 3 top..................... 7 corporate..................... 4 general..................... 8 employee..................... 4. Complete these sentences with word partnerships from Exercise 3. 1 He has resigned after having a lot of..........................................this year. 2 Building up..........................................is important with unemployment at a record low. 3 Our..........................................is in charge of running the company and for making joint strategic decisions with the CEO. 4 The new CEO transformed the bureaucratic..........................................to profit-minded entrepreneurship. 5 Companies who pollute the environment are ignoring their ethical and …………….. …………… . 6 The..........................................should get the biggest bonuses. 7 We need to use logic and..........................................not our emotions to make this decision. 5. Discuss these statements. 1 Companies should be fully involved in the lives of their employees. 2 ‘Sick days’ are a perk. 3 A pay rise is better than a job in a caring company.
READING 3 1. a) Look at the headline of the article. What do you think it could be about? b) work in a group and think about unusual motivators that a company could use. c) read the text and compare your motivators with those which are used by SOL company. Dirty business, bright ideas Walk into SOL City, headquarters of one of northern Europe’s most admired companies, and it feels like you’ve entered a business playground. Located in renovated film studio in the heart of Helsinki, the office explodes with colour, creativity and chaos. The walls are bright red, white and yellow. Smart in yellow uniforms, staff hurry about in $60 million-a-year cleaning company carrying laptops and the latest Nokia mobile phones, as well as heavy-duty vacuum cleaners. Laptops and cell-phones are standard equipment for all supervisors at SOL, freeing them to work where they want, how they want. Inside the offices Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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there’s almost no room for paper. So the company stores all critical budget documents and performance reports on its Intranet. Few people dream about becoming a cleaner. But that doesn’t mean cleaners can’t find satisfaction in their work. Liisa Joronen developed SOL Cleaning Service 11 years ago, out of a 150-year-old industrial empire owned by her family. Slim, charismatic brunette of 50, back from a 90-mile keep-fit cross-country ski run in Lapland, says that she has thrown out traditional management styles and hierarchies in favour of people motivation and the strict auditing of targets. She believes that fun is the key to satisfaction. She has brought fun to the workplace in a nation noted for its engineering innovation, but also for its people’s shyness and introversion. This most extrovert of Scandinavian business leaders sometimes dresses as a sunflower and sings at sales meetings if it will help. The company’s name is from the Spanish for sun, and its sun logo has a curved line turning it into a smile. This yellow happy face is on everything from her blazer to the company’s budget reports. Individual freedom is another point that brings satisfaction to employees. Freedom means abolishing all the rules and regulations of conventional corporate life. To help staff towards independence of mind, Liisa has abolished territorial space, such as individual offices and desks, and organized a communal area similar to a social club. It has a colourful playground, with trees, caged birds and small animals, a nursery, a billiard table, sofas and modern art kitchen corners. Staff sit anywhere. There is not a secretary in sight. The boss makes the tea if everyone is on the phone to the field teams. The company has eliminated all perks and status symbols. This is a company in which people work when they like. Headquarters can be empty in the day and busy in the evenings and weekends. One headquarters worker, keen to go to midweek tango classes, was switching tasks with a colleague. The person supervising the cleaning of Helsinki’s metro was working from home. ‘People’s creativeness is restricted by routine and traditional office hours. As work becomes more competitive, so we need more flexible, creative and independent people,’ Ms Joronen says. Liisa tells 3,500 staff at 25 branches to kill routine before it kills you. At SOL Days, Japanese-style motivation sessions, she has the whole hall dancing, and urges staff: The better you think you are, the better you will become. Lots of companies talk about decentralizing responsibility and authority. At SOL it’s a way of life. The real power players of the company are its 135 supervisors, each of whom leads a team of up to 50 cleaners. These supervisors work with their teams to create their own budgets, do their own hiring and negotiate their own deals with customers. Liisa Joronen believes in autonomy, but she’s also keen on accountability. SOL is fanatical about measuring performance. It does so frequently and visibly, and focuses on customer satisfaction. Every time SOL lands a contract, for example, the salesperson works at the new customer’s site alongside the team that will do the cleaning in the future. Together they establish performance Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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benchmarks. ‘The more we free our people from rules,’ Joronen says, ‘the more we need good measurements.’ Lifelong learning is among the key points that the company pays attention to. SOL’s training programme consists of seven modules, each of which lasts four months and ends with a rigorous exam. Of course, there are a limited number of ways to polish a table or shampoo a carpet. That’s why SOL employees also study time management, budgeting and people skills. Half the country sees Liisa as a revolutionary boss, and several television programmes have been devoted to her. The other half thinks she is crazy. 2. Work in two groups. Group A completes the information file on Liisa Joronen. Group B completes the information file on her company, SOL. When you have finished, check each other’s files. SOL cleaning company
Liisa Joronen
Location:
Age:
Number of staff:
Position:
Number of branches:
Physical appearance:
Logo:
Personality:
Working conditions/practices:
Leadership ideas/style: Public image:
3. Which of these statements are true? Correct the false ones. 1. Everyone has their own office. 2. Liisa Joronen believes cleaners can feel good about their job. 3. At the end of the training course there is an exam. 4. The training course takes 28 month to complete. 5. At SOL giving responsibility to employees is important. 6. SOL thinks measuring performance restricts freedom. 7. Every month Liisa Joronen measures each team’s performance. 8. All the information is stored in filing cabinets. 4. Read these extracts from the article. Which word is similar in meaning to the underlined word in each extract? 1 Smart in yellow uniforms, staff rush about in Finland’s $60 million-a-year SOL cleaning company. a) intelligent b) colourful c) well-dressed
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2 SOL’s owner, Liisa Joronen, a slim, charismatic brunette of 50… a) powerful b) charming c) inspiring 3 This most extrovert of Scandinavian business leaders sometimes dresses as a sunflower… a) lively b) quiet c) creative 4 People’s creativeness is restricted by routine and traditional office hours. a) developed b) destroyed c) limited 5 Liisa has abolished territorial space, such as individual offices and desks. a) increased b)stopped c) reduced 6 One headquarters worker, keen to go to midweek tango classes, was switching tasks with a colleague. a) changing b) planning c) sharing 5. Discuss these questions. 1. Would you like to work in a company like SOL? 2. Which of Liisa Joronen’s ideas would you like to introduce into your own company or organization? Which would you not like to introduce? Why? Project work: Choose any company you are interested in. Collect information about their motivation scheme and present it to the class.
WRITING Use information from your project work and imagine that you and other managers feel that your company’s system of perks needs improving, or employee retention might become a critical issue. One of the directors has asked you to put forward your ideas in writing. Write an informal proposal (in 200-250 words) for the director. Your proposal should: • describe what are, in your views, the shortcomings of the present system of perks • suggest a number of alternatives • explain what kind of perks you think would work best, and why.
Team building 1. Think of at least two advantages and disadvantages of working in a team. 2. How well could you work in a team? For each category in the quiz below, tick the three statements that most apply to you. Comment on the results.
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What sort of team player are you? Doers vs.Thinkers
Details vs. Ideas
e) Discussion gives me energy and ideas.
e) You shouldn’t overlook details.
Planners vs. Improvisers a)I consider what I a) I often come up a) I like to think a) Meetings have say. with unusual logically. to be prepared for solutions. carefully. b) I contribute a lot b) It’s important to b) I keep emotions b) I like surprises. in discussion. be realistic. out of decisionmaking. c) Action is more c) People see me c) I avoid c) I hate timeimportant than as a creative confrontation. wasting at reflection. person. meetings. d) I listen to others d) I like practical d) I sometimes d) Too much time before I say solutions. tread on people’s can be spend on anything. toes. preparation.
f) I don’t say a lot at meetings.
Mind vs. Heart
e) Understanding people is as important as being right. f) You shouldn’t f) I care about get lost in details. other people’s feelings.
e) People say I’m a punctual person.
f) I need a deadline to get me going.
3. Meredith Belbin has identified these types of team members or team players. a) Look at this classification and decide what kind of team player you are. the implementer, who convert the team’s plan into something achievable the coordinator, a confident member who sets objectives and defines team member’s roles the shaper, who defines issues, shapes ideas and leads the action the plant, a creative and imaginative person who supplies original ideas and solves problems the resource investigator, who communicates with outside world and explores opportunities the monitor evaluator, who sees all the possibilities, evaluates situations objectively, and sees what is realistically achievable the teamworker, who builds the team, supports others and reduces conflict the completer, who meets deadlines, corrects mistakes and sure nothing is forgotten b) Look at the types of team members again and say if these statements are true or false. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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1 Implementers are not interested in final results. 2 Co-ordinators tend to take a leading, organizing role. 3 Shapers tend to follow what other people say. 4 Plants can be useful in providing new ideas when the team has run out of steam. 5 Some resource investigators might love using the Internet. 6 Monitor evaluators are not good at seeing all sides of the problem. 7 Teamworkers may help to defuse arguments between members. 8 Completers are bad at finishing things on time. 4. a) Study typical stages of team life. forming: the group is anxious and feels dependent on a leader; the group tries to discover how it is going to operate and what the ‘normal’ ways of working will be storming: the atmosphere may be one of conflict between members, who may resist control from any one person; there may be the feeling that the task cannot be achieved norming: at this stage, members of the group feel closer together and the conflicts are forgotten; members of the group will start support each other; there is increasingly the feeling that it possible to achieve the task performing: the group is carrying out the task for which it was formed; members feel safe enough to express differences of opinion in relation to others mourning: the group’s work is finished, and its members begin to have pleasant memories of their activities and achievements b) Read what members of a team working on a design project say and think at what stage of their work it could happen. 1
6
We had such a great time working together
2
7 We’re rally making progress now and we get on so well together
3
We’re beginning to get to know each other better
4
8
9 Who does Jane think she is, taking over and behaving as if she is in charge?
We’ll never finish this. Do you remember that time we worked until 3 in the morning?
I’m new here – I don’t even know what we are supposed to be doing?
I know we’ve had arguments, but can I help you with this?
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5
We need to appoint a leader.
10
I can see what we’re supposed to be doing now.
V OC A B U L A R Y 1. Match the prefixes of the words 1-10 to their meanings. Prefix
Meaning of prefix
1 mismanage 2 pro-European 3 predict 4 post-merger 5 dishonest 6 ex-boss 7 bilateral 8 reconsider 9 irresponsible 10 hypercritical
a) not a) opposite a) not enough a) after a) very a) opposite a) against a) again a) again a) not enough
b) not badly b) in favour of b) against b) too much b) former b) former b) after b) former b) not b) very
c) former c) before c) before c) not enough c) not c) after c) two c) after c) against c) opposite
2. Complete the text below using some of the words in exercise 1 in the correct form. Our company went through a difficult period a few years ago. Bad decisions were taken which caused us to lose a lot of money. Because the company has been (1) ………. , the chief executive had to resign. Last year, we merged with a much large company. During the (2) …….…. period our future strategy was discussed. It was decided that we could consider becoming a more global organisation with a strong presence in Europe. Most of us were (3) ………. , we liked the idea of expanding into Europe. Indeed our (4) ………. had been strongly in favour of doing this. However the two new board members were strongly against the idea but never said so openly. I think this was very (5) ………. . Instead, they behaved in an (6) ………. manner during meetings. For example, they would be (7) ………. , raising stupid objections if someone came up with a good idea. Because the meetings were so unproductive, the Board of Directors got cold feet and asked us to (8) ………. the decision to expand onto Europe.
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3. In each group, cross out the word which does not begin with a prefix. 1 a) 2 a) 3 a)
discontinue miserable billboard
b) b) b)
disincentive mismanagement bimonthly
c) c) c)
distinguishe misinform bilingual
4 a) 5 a) 6 a)
reconnect predict
b) b)
renowned premium
c) c)
realign prepaid
irrational
b)
irreversible
c)
irritable
4. Complete the sentences with the appropriate words remaining in exercise 3. 1 Experts ……….. that there will be a marked shift from financial and technological capital to human capital. 2 Executives who fail to meet the aspirations of their employees can be accused of ……… . 3 The new measures restrict employees' autonomy and will undoubtedly act as a ……… . 4 The move towards the creation of a shared vision is ……… and lies at the heart of a people-centred strategy. 5 A company can ……… itself around a clear business goal only when it succeeds in engaging its employees in that goal. 6 Our project manager wants us to submit a detailed ……… progress report. 5. Discuss the following questions. 1 Who is the best or worst person you have worked with? Explain why? 2 What qualities could you contribute to a team? What qualities would the other members need to create an effective team?
READING 1. Read the article. Then match these headings with the sections marked 1-6. Open communication Measuring progress against goals Leadership
Common goals with challenging targets Involvement of all team members Conflict resolution
Team building involves more than throwing a few people together ‘Teamworking’ has infiltrated every nook and cranny within just about every organisation. You can't get away from ‘teams’ that are supposed to be able to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts. Or so the theory goes.
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Yet the truth about teams is that the large majority of them do not achieve the synergies they could. For example, poor teamworking is the culprit when meetings regularly overrun, when there are frequent arguments between team members or there is an unhealthy level of competition between individuals. Other signs of unproductive teamworking are people not always completing tasks assigned to them or last minute panics to meet deadlines. More often than not, ineffective teams are the result of poor planning. There are six measures that need to be taken before you can get the most out of a team: 1……………………………….. In other words, a clear reason for the team to exist. But don't think of goals as wish lists — they have to be achievable, vet challenging enough to motivate team members. 2 ................................................... Members must be able to express their opinions freely without fear of retribution, and feel that suggestions will be taken seriously. The team might also need to agree whether politically sensitive topics of discussion in meetings should be kept within the confines of the team or shared with other employees. 3 ................................................... It is easy to think (albeit subconsciously) that a junior team member may have less to contribute than more experienced members. This is not only demoralising, it also makes no sense – people that have nothing to contribute should not have been selected for the team in the first place. You need to ensure that every member has an opportunity to add his or her thoughts to discussions. 4 ................................................... Disagreements are natural and, in fact, debate and discussion should be encouraged. A team made up only of ‘yes men’ can make disastrous decisions that few people honestly agreed with in the first place. Consequently, there should be explicit rules on how lengthy disagreements should be tackled. For example, team meetings may not be the most appropriate place for a discussion that involves only two people, so the team could agree to certain issues being taken ‘off-line’. 5 ................................................... Most high-performing teams (whether it is in the workplace, sports or even in a pub quiz) have leaders. A good leader should be able to play to individuals' strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. ‘A good leader is critical,’ says Gary Spellins, Managing Director of Managed Services, Lex Service plc, which delivers a range of outsourcing solutions to the public and private sector. ‘It should be someone who can act as a catalyst and a constant reminder of what the team needs to achieve.’ The leader must, above all, be skilled in sharing responsibility and delegating work to others, coaching them to achieve tasks, and providing constructive feedback on how the tasks went.
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6 ................................................... Team members need to be able to see how they are doing against the objectives set at the beginning of the project. From Accountancy magazine
2. Discuss these questions. 1 What is meant to be the advantage of creating a team? (paragraph 1) 2 Which word means the same as the answer to question? (paragraph 2) 3 What are the five signs of unproductive teamworking that the article mentions? 3. There are a number of fixed phrases in English joined with and. These are called fixed pairs. 1 Look at the first sentence of the text. Does nook and cranny mean: a) all the parts? b) the most important parts? c) the least important parts? 2 Complete sentences a)-h) with an appropriate fixed pair from the box. Use the words in brackets to help you. by and large pros and cons
give and take touch and go
hard and fast ups and downs
on and off wine and dine
a) I’ve been writing this report …………. (occasionally, not continuously) for the last two weeks, but it has to be in tomorrow. b) There isn't any …………. (strict, fixed) rule about how we are going to proceed in this negotiation. c) You won't win this negotiation through bullying. There needs to be some ………. (compromise). d) We’ve had a few ………. (mixture of good and bad things) in recent years. e) It was (very unsure that something will happen) whether we’d get to the meeting on time. f) If this contract is important, we’ll have to ………. (entertain) their management team. g) Full employment was ……… (mostly true, in general) achieved. h) The union discussed the ………. (advantages and disadvantages) of strike action.
WRITING You are one of the most senior members of sales team. The team is not functioning very well at the moment, and morale is low. The sales manager is concerned, and asked all senior members to express their views in writing.
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Use the notes below and your ideas to write an informal report (in 200-250 words) explain why you think the team is not functioning properly putting forward one or two ideas how the situation could be improved. Problems Solutions team members are competing with each clarify team goals other too focused on personal achievement focus more on group results, no responsibility for mistakes less on individual success
Working hours VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT Old and new ways of working I’m an office worker in insurance company. It’s a nine-to-five job with regular working hours. The work isn’t very interesting, but I like to be able to go home at a reasonable time. We all have to clock in and clock out (clock on/off) every day. In this company, even the managers have to, which is unusual! I’m in computer programming. There is a system of flexitime in my company, which means we can work when we want, within certain limits. We can start at any time before eleven, and finish as early as three, as long as we do enough hours each month. It’s ideal for me as I have two young children. I work in a car plant. I work in shifts. I may be on the day shift one week and the night shift the next week. It’s difficult changing from one shift to another. When I change shifts, I have problems changing to a new routine for sleeping and eating. I’m a commercial artist in an advertising agency. I work in a big city, but I prefer living in the country, so I commute to work every day, like thousands of other commuters. Working from home using a computer and the Internet is becoming more and more popular, and the agency is introducing this: it is called teleworking or telecommuting. But I like going into the office and working with other people around me. Types of job and type of work A full-time job is for the whole of the normal working week; a part-time job is for less time than that. You say that someone works full-time or part-time. A permanent job does not finish after a fixed period; a temporary job finishes after a fixed period. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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You talk about temporary work and permanent work. Word combinations with ‘work’: If you work or have work, you have a job. But you don’t say that someone has a work. Work is also the place where you do your job. I’m Frank. I work in a bank in New York City. I leave for work at 7.30 every morning. I go to work by train and subway. I get to/arrive at work at about nine. I’m usually at work till six. Luckily, I don’t get ill very much so I’m not often off work. The economy is growing fast and more people are in work than ever before. The percentage of people out of work has fallen to its level for 30 years. 1. Which person (1-5) is most likely to do each of the five things (a-e)? 1 A software designer in an Internet company. Has to be in the office. 2 An office worker in a large, traditional manufacturing company. 3 A manager in a department store in a large city. Lives in the country. 4 A construction worker on a building site where work goes on 24 hours a day. 5 A technical writer for a city computer company. Lives in the country. a work in shifts b work under a flexitime system c telecommute d commute to work e clock on and off at the same time every day 2. Read what people talk about their jobs. Think what type of job or working hours they mean. 1 I’m Alicia. I work in a public library in the afternoons from two until six. 2 My husband works in an office from 9 am to 5.30 pm. 3 Our daughter works in a bank from eight till five every day. 4 One week it’s six-to-two, the next it’s nights. 5 I’m David and I work in a café from 8 pm until midnight. 6 My wife works in local government and she can have this job for as long as she wants it. 7 I get in at nine o’clock and go home at five. 8 Our son is working on a farm for three weeks. 9 Our daughter is working in an office for four weeks. 10 I joined the company 10 year ago and I guess I’ll be here for another ten.
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3. Complete the text with appropriate prepositions. Rebecca lives in London and works in public relations. She leaves home ____ work at 7.30 am. She drives ____ work. The traffic is often bad and she worries about getting ____ work late, but she usually arrives ___ work at around nine. She finishes work quite late, at about eight. ‘Luckily, I’m never ill,’ she says. ‘I could never take the time ___ work.’ she loves what she does and is glad to be ___ work. Some of her friends are not so lucky: they are ____ work.
READING 1. Read the text and fill in the gaps with suitable words from the box. Working conditions absenteeism holiday satisfaction
colleagues leave security
contracts manual sick pay
duties maternity workforce
flexitime morale vacation
My working conditions? I’d say they’re really good. The working hours are very reasonable - 38 hours a week, Mondays to Fridays only, and I get four weeks paid (1)......... . I always go on a two-week (2) ......... in the summer and I like to take another week to go skiing in the winter. That still leaves a few days if I want to take time off for something else. I think we're even allowed to take unpaid (3) ......... if it's really necessary. They introduced a (4) ……… system last year, so I can start at any time between 7.30 and 9.30 in the morning, so I sometimes leave at 4 in the afternoon. Of course this means we now have to clock in and clock out, so we have to do the right number of hours. Women get generous (5) ......... leave, although that doesn't concern me yet, and there are a lot of women employed half-time or part-time here, so they have time for their children. Of course I’m a full-time white-collar worker, hoping to make a career here. My (6) ……… and I have permanent (7) ......... . At least we think so, it’s hard to be sure about job (8) ……… these days. We are consulted if they want to change our (9) ......... or anything. The entire (10) ......... is well-treated, not just us. The company's blue-collar workers, doing (11) ......... jobs, also have good conditions of employment. It all makes a change from when I was a student, when I did casual, unskilled, seasonal work for a fruit company, paid by the hour, with no (12) ......... or holiday pay or anything. They treated workers really badly, so (13) ......... was low, nobody was motivated, productivity was minimal, and there was a lot of (14) ......... and high turnover - I used to see new people almost every day. There was no job (15) .......... and nothing changed if our performance was good or bad, so we all did the minimum. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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2. Match up the following words and expressions into logical pairs: 1. career a. blue-collar worker 2. flexitime b. job satisfaction 3. having a baby c. clocking in 4. manual labour d. permanent job 5. motivation e. maternity leave 6. office work f. white collar worker 3. Think what sort of job do you have or would like to have? Describe it. What do you do? What are in charge of? What are your responsibilities? What time do leave for work? How long does it take to get to work? Do you have to clock on and off? Is there a flexitime system in your organization? Do you ever work in shifts? Could you do your job working from home?
READING 2 1. Would you like to work from home? Give your reasons. 2. Work in groups and discuss advantages of telecommuting for: • the company • the environment 3. Now read the article and check your answers. Satisfied companies and employees expand the world of telecommuting. It’s a lot easier for Angela Hawkins to work night and on weekends than it was last year. A few months ago, the 34-year-old Northern Telecom manager traded in her office at the company’s headquarters for an office in her home. Now she is a telecommuter, and keeps in touch with the office by e-mail, voice-mail, fax, and telephone conversations. It’s a new and expanding world. Across the United States, there are 11 million telecommuters who work from home at least one day a month, an increase of 30 per cent from 2000. About 500 of Northern Telecom’s 8,500 employees are telecommuters. They include people like Angela who are full-time telecommuters, and those who keep offices both at home and at the company headquarters. In 1995 Northern Telecom began encouraging telecommuting by providing all the equipment an employee needed to set up a home office, and installing all the electric equipment. It also provides facilities at its headquarters for telecommuters who occasionally have to come into the office. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Telecommute America, which represents telecommuters, did a survey of 500 managers. They found that 53 per cent believe that telecommuting improves worker productivity. It also found that companies are offering telecommuting as a way of attracting and keeping employees. Telecommuting helps those with families spend more time together, it results in less pollution, and it allows employees to work where and when they want to. Low employment means that companies have to work hard to find employees, and offering telecommuting is something that employees like. 4. Change the group and prepare the list of advantages and disadvantages that people could get if they telecommute. 5. a) Read the magazine article about advantages and disadvantages of working from home. Put each quotation in the correct category in the chart below. The first one has been done for you. Does working at home really work? the work place the working day commuting technology efficiency costs motivation family
Advantages
Disadvantages
1
Working from home What do people really think about working from home? We interviewed a cross section of people from different industries about their experiences of teleworking. As you will see, there was quite a wide variety of opinions. 1 ‘There is no getting away from the family. When you work in an office you get a chance to escape and meet new people.’ 2 ‘I think us home workers get more done in a shorter time. There are no phone calls or colleagues to slow you down.’ 3 ‘Without journeys to and from the office you don’t get a chance to relax and prepare your mind before you work, or to wind down before you get home. I miss the separation between home and leisure time.’ 4 ‘You do get to see more of your children. The problem is, though, that you’re supposed to be WORKING.’ 5 ‘You don’t have to sit in traffic jams or walk to work in the rain. Or listen people talking loudly on their mobiles on the train.’ Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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6 ‘I think financially you miss out on perks like subsidised refreshments or travel.’ 7 ‘Life is definitely cheaper for the employee. You save on things like transport and smart clothes. It’s also cheaper to have lunch at home.’ 8 ‘It’s a bit dangerous for workaholics. You can easily find your working time creeping into your leisure time.’ 9 ‘Sharing ideas and problems with your colleagues can make you more productive in some jobs. And the gossip can be really inspiring!’ 10 ‘Space can be a problem. Rooms can become an unpleasant mix of home and office.’ 11 ‘You don’t have to work with those obsolete office computers and the company intranet which always seems to be down.’ 12 ‘The flexibility is great. You can work at five in the morning or on a Sunday afternoon.’ 13 ‘I like the freedom. You can open the window, play music and generally make yourself comfortable.’ 14 ‘It can be difficult to get down to work. You have to be very self-disciplined.’ 15 ‘If you have a technical problem, you’re on your own. There’s no IT expert to call on.’ 16 ‘No boss cracking the whip!’ b) Compare you list with the opinions you’ve read. Do you have the same ones? 6. a) Find in the article words and phrases which mean the same as: a relax b queues of cars and lorries unable to move forward c benefits not included in your salary d people who can’t stop working e out of date and no longer useful f informal exchange of news and information g start h trying got make people work harder b) Complete the sentences with the words from a). 1 As I have to travel so much I miss out on all the office _______. 2 When I get home, I like to ______ by listening by some classical music with a glass of wine. 3 My boss is a complete ______. She just doesn’t know how to relax and turn off. 4 It’s better to have a higher salary than _____ like a company car or free meals. 5 The problem with buying a computer is that in a couple of years it’s ______. 6 I find it difficult to ______ the accounts and usually leave them until the last minute. 7 I leave home very early to avoid getting caught in _______ on the way to work. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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8 _______ is part of any manager’s job. c) Are the sentences in b) true for you? If not, change them so that they are.
Pa y VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT Wages, salary and benefits My name's Luigi and I'm a hotel manager in Venice. I get paid a salary every month. In summer we're very busy, so we work a lot of extra hours, or overtime; the money for this is quite good. Working in a hotel, we also get nice perks, for example free meals!
I'm Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like my job even if I don't earn very much: I get paid wages every week by the restaurant. We get the minimum wage: the lowest amount allowed by law. But we also get tips, money that customers leave for us in addition to the bill. Some tourists are very generous!
I'm Catherine and I'm a saleswoman based in Paris. I get a basic salary, plus commission: a percentage on everything I sell. If I sell more than a particular amount in a year, I also get extra money - a bonus, which is nice. There are some good fringe benefits with this job: I get a company car, and they make payments for my pension, money that I'll get regularly after I stop working. All that makes a Compensation 1 package. good benefits My name's Alan. I'm a specialist in pay and benefits. Compensation and remuneration are formal words used to talk about pay and benefits, especially those of senior managers. Compensation package and remuneration package are used especially in the US to talk about all the pay and benefits that employees receive. For a senior executive, this may include share options (BrE) or stock options (AmE): the right to buy the company's shares at low prices. There may be performance-related bonuses if the manager reaches particular objectives for the company.
Compensation 2 Compensation is also used to talk about money and other benefits that a senior manager (or any employee) receives if they are forced to leave the organization, perhaps after a boardroom row. This money is in the form of a compensation payment, or severance payment. If the manager also receives benefits, the payment and the benefits form a severance package. In Britain, executives with very high pay and good benefits may be referred to as fat cats, implying that they do not deserve this level of remuneration. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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1. Xavier and Yvonne are talking about Xavier's new job as a photocopier salesman. Complete the conversation, using words from A opposite. 1 X: I get paid every month. Y: I see. You get a salary , not wages. 2 X: 1 usually have to work late: I don't get paid for it, but I get a percentage for every photocopier I sell. Y So you don't get............................but you do get............................That's good. 3 X: The people in production get a...........................if they reach their targets. Y: Oh right. They get an extra payment for producing a certain amount. 4 X: The company pays for medical treatment too. and the company restaurant is fantastic. Y: Wow! The......................................................sound very nice. 5 X: And they've given me a ......................................................to go and visit clients. Y: So you don't have to buy a car, then. 6 X: What's more, the company pays in money for us to get when we don't work any more. Y: Yes, it's important to get a good............................ 7 X: The total......................................................is brilliant. Y: Yes, all that extra stuff is really worth having. 2. Which expressions from vocabulary could be used to continue each of these newspaper extracts? 1 FAILED AIRLINE BOSS GETS 2 MULTILEVER'S EXECUTIVE MASSIVE PAYOUT Shareholders are angry that despite very poor results, Blighty Airlines’ CEO, Mr Rob Herring, is leaving with £3 million in his pocket. They say it is ridiculous to ‘reward’ bad performance with this sort of...
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MEGAFONE CEO GETS £10 MILLION 'THANK YOU' AFTER TAKEOVER
The directors of Megafone, the world’s largest mobile phone company, yesterday voted to give Mr Chris Ladyman, its chief executive, a special payment of £10 million for negotiating the company’s takeover of Minnemann. The directors referred to this as a ...
PAY It was today revealed that Mr Carl Lang, head of consumer foods giant Multilever, earns a basic salary of $22 million with stock options potentially worth an additional $10 million. Other payments bring to $35 million his total ...
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ANGRY SHAREHOLDERS ATTACK EXECUTIVE PAY National Energy’s sharehojders yesterday attacked the directors of the company for paying themselves too much. Profits fell by 30 per cent last year, but directors are being paid 30 per cent more. They should be paid 30 per cent less, said one shareholder. ‘These people are just...’
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READING 1. Match up the following words with the underlined words in the text. Remuneration cash allowance salespeople
commission executive directors cost-of-living deducted fringe benefit incentive increments salary potential evaluate earning
Most of the full-time employees at our headquarters in Manchester earn an annual salary, divided into twelve monthly payments. Income tax is automatically (1) subtracted from the salary each month, along with National Insurance contributions. The staff in our London office also receive a London (2) weighting, because living and working in the capital is more expensive. Unlike many public sector jobs (civil servants, teachers, nurses, and so on) our staff do not receive (3) automatic increases to their salary every year. Pay rises are given according to merit, and there is no fixed pay-scale. We have an appraisal system in which the managers (4) assess the performance of their subordinates every December. The (5) senior managers are also paid a bonus at the end of the year if the financial results are good, on top of their basic (6) remuneration, which is already rather high. The sales force earn a basic fixed salary, plus (7) a percentage of the value of their sales, which is obviously an (8) encouragement to higher productivity. On the other hand, the (9) reps do not receive overtime pay if they work long hours. The (10) potential income of the most successful ones is higher than that of some of the managers. The hourly paid staff-cleaners, canteen workers, and so on - receive their wages in (11) notes and coins in a pay packet every Friday. Of course this is after all deductions such as tax and insurance contributions. Because we are in the insurance business we all get at least one (12) perk - cheap insurance policies. 2. Look at the set expressions given below, and decide if they refer to earning a high or a low salary? 1. Believe me, they pay peanuts. 2. He really is one of the fat cats. 3. He's rolling in it. 4. I don't know where he finds the time to spend it. 5. I earn an absolute pittance. 6. It's hardly worth getting out of bed for. 7. It's nothing to write home about. 8. She earns a fortune.
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9. She must be absolutely loaded. 10. We're talking serious money here, about 120K. 11. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!
WRITING Summarise the whole information you’ve leant about working conditions and write a composition ‘Working conditions I dream about’. Project work: Organize a survey. Interview a group of working people about their working conditions. Find out if they are satisfied with their job or not. Present the result in the class with help of Power Point. Use tables and graphs.
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PART 4 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT Building relationships and communication 1. Discuss these questions. 1. What are the most important relationships for you a) at your place of work or study? b) outside your place of work or study? 2. What benefits do you get from each relationship? 2. Answer the questions in the quiz. Suppose how good you are at building relationships. 1 You are in a room with a group of people who don't know each other. Do you wait for someone to say something? introduce a topic of conversation? introduce yourself? 2 When you are introduced to people, do you remember their name? their face? their clothes? 3 On festive occasions, e.g. New Year, do you send greeting cards to everyone you know? send e-mails? reply only to cards received? 4 Do you think small talk is enjoyable? a waste of time? difficult to do well? 5 Do you prefer not to socialise with colleagues? to socialise often with colleagues? to socialise with colleagues only if you have to? 6 Do you like to have conversations with people who share your interests? with almost anyone? with people who are your social equals?
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PART 4 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT Building relationships and communication
3. Ward Lincoln, Business Relations Manager with an international training organisation, is talking about areas for companies to consider in order to build strong business relationships. What factors do you think he will mention? Read the interview and check the predictions you made. INTERVIEWER - Ward, what are the key factors in building good business
relationships? WARD LINCOLN - I believe that relationships, business or otherwise, are about trust.
And in order to gain trust, you must be honest; you must be transparent, clear. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. There is nothing worse in a relationship than being let down. It is also about being clear, being explicit - people present their products in brochures, pamphlets, flyers, e-mail, videos. All of those media –they’re all very effective, but it must be clear. The customer must understand very quickly, what you are selling, what price you’re selling at. The speed of that information, the speed of the response -it must consistently be fast. The restless customer of the 21st century does not have time on his or her hands and there are a million other providers, all ready and eager to sell to that customer. In order to continue that relationship, maintaining the relationship, consistently answer their queries, respond quickly in a simple format.
V OC A B U L A R Y 1. The verbs below are often used with the word relations. Use them to complete the table. break off build up cement foster cut off develop disrupt encourage establish endanger improve jeopardise maintain strengthen promote restore resume damage sour undermine Positive meaning build up relations
Negative meaning Break off relations
2. Choose the correct verb in each sentence. 1 Sales staff who are impolite to customers disrupt / damage the reputation of a company. 2 We are planning to promote / establish branch offices in Singapore. 3 By merging with a US company, we greatly strengthened / maintained our sales force. 4 Our image has been fostered / undermined by poor after-sales service. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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5 Thanks to a new communications system, we are souring / improving relations with suppliers. 6 A strike at our factory resumed / disrupted production for several weeks. 7 We could not agree on several points so we broke off / cut off talks regarding a joint venture. 8 The success of our new product launch was resumed / jeopardised by an unimaginative advertising campaign. 9 In order to gain market share in China, we are building up / cutting off a sales network there. 10 Relations between the two countries have been endangered / fostered by official visits and trade delegations. 3. Match the following sentence halves. Then make five more sentences with the verbs in Exercise 1 and 2. 1 Widespread rumours of a hostile take-over bid are certain 2 The Accounts Department's very slow payment of invoices 3 The long-term contracts, which will run for the next five years, 4 The excellent relations the company enjoys with the local community 5 As a result of the government's imposition of currency controls, a are a credit to its highly effective PR Department. b have cemented relations between the two companies. c its close relations with several major foreign investors have been jeopardised. d is causing stormy relations with some of the company's suppliers. e to strain relations between the two leading French software companies 4. Two managers are talking about building relationships with agents. Put the conversation in the correct order. a) Well, I hope you get a result. I must be going. I’ve got to draw up an agency agreement myself, I’ve put it off far too long already. b) What exactly was the problem? c) Yes, my job was on the line. Our results were terrible. We tried to build up market share but it just didn't happen. We just managed to hold on to what we had. d) Unfortunately, our agent let us down. We thought we could count on him to boost sales but he had no commitment, no motivation. e) He should be. He’s got a very good track record. We’d set up a meeting on Friday, but he had to call it off- something came up. f) How’s it going in France, Gina? We didn’t do too well there last year. g) Well, I suppose you terminated his contract then. h) Good. Let’s hope he'll be better than the last one. i) Alt the best. Speak to you soon. j) Yes, there was no way we could renew it. We sounded out a few possible replacements and found someone else. We get on really well. 5. Work in pairs and role play these situations. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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1. The owner of a department store visits Moscow to find a supplier of amber jewellery. He/She phones a Russian contact recommended by a colleague. The owner wants to find out if the Russian is interested in doing business with his/her company. 2. You are networking at a conference about sports goods. You are a Sales Manager for a sports goods company. You are at a conference and see someone who you met briefly last year at a trade fair. a) Reintroduce yourself b) Find out if the person is interested in becoming an agent for your company.
READING 1. What area of business do you think the company American International Group (AIG) is involved in? Is it a) tobacco? b) insurance? c) oil? d) packaging? Skim the article quickly to find the answer. AIG knows everyone in Asia By Shawn Donnan
AIG, American International Group, has grown from a small Shanghai-based underwriting agency into the world’s largest 5 insurer by market value. It has a capitalisation of $166bn, and is firmly embedded in Asia's corporate culture. Indeed, with roots dating back more than half a century, and the constant focus on the region by Maurice Greenberg, its Chairman, AIG has an unrivalled scale of operations and a wealth of political and business connections. For other US and European insurers, the company is both a benchmark and a powerful competitor. ‘They know anyone who is anyone in Asia.’ However, in order to continue to prosper, AIG will have to succeed in China probably the insurance market with the 25 biggest untapped potential in the world. After 17 years of lobbying by Mr Greenberg, AIG was the first foreign insurer to be allowed into China, in 1992. It now operates in eight cities but admits making only ‘a small profit’ in the country. Today, turning its pioneering presence into a commercial success is AIG’s biggest challenge. In China as with the rest of Asia, AIG’s main advantage over its competitors is its long-standing presence. The group was founded in Shanghai in 1919 by Cornelius Vander Starr, a 27-year-old American entrepreneur. That historical accident, and Mr Starr’s quest to expand to the rest of Asia in the ensuing 10 years, are still benefiting the company. Over the past nine decades, AIG built on those foundations through endlessly pursuing close relationships with Asia's governments, regulators and powerful businessmen. Edmund Tse, who runs the Asian operations and life assurance worldwide, says AIG’s policy is to build relationships with as many influential people as possible. ‘If you want to do business, you have to be friends with senior leaders,’ he says. ‘You need to be friends with the head of state, the minister of finance, the minister of trade, the [central] bank governor and the insurance regulator.’
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AIG believes its three decades spent courting China will be rewarded with unrestricted access to its vast insurance market. ‘The Chinese always remember good friends,’ says Mr Tse. But if its ‘friendship’ with China is not enough to tap the country’s potential, AIG may lose its main growth engine. And without a strong Asia, AIG would be a much weaker company. AIG may be a company of 80,000 employees and 350,000 affiliated agents in 130 countries but much of its success is down to individual relationships. Many of those relationships have been forged by Maurice Greenberg, the company’s chairman and chief executive. Mr Greenberg says that playing the long game has given AIG an edge, particularly in terms of investing in emerging markets. He courted the Chinese for 17 years before being granted a licence in 1992. Mr Greenberg knows quite a few people. His style has always been to discuss big issues - corporate, political and economic - with anyone he meets. One analyst refers to AIG as a ‘sovereign corporate nation’ as Mr Greenberg insists on representing the company in high-level discussions. ‘If you’re dealing with the premier or president of a country, he is not thrilled to have a deputy come and see him. Even if a country is not one of the leading nations in the world, that country is important. It’s important to him and it’s important to us.’ From the Financial Times
2.What do the following numbers in the article refer to? 166 1992 1919 80,000 130 3. Who are the following people mentioned in the article: Maurice Greenberg, Cornelius Vander Starr, Edmund Tse? 4. According to the article what are the main factors responsible for AIG’s success in Asia? 5. Read the article again and answer these questions. 1 What objective does AIG have in China? 2 What does Mr Greenberg see as his role in the company? 3 Why is Asia important to AIG? 6. a) Find three verbs in the article which combine with the noun relationships to mean develop. b)Find phrases (adjective and noun) in the article which mean the following. unused possibilities (paragraph 3) continuing in the same place for a great length of time (paragraph 5) unlimited entry (paragraph 8) representatives connected to a company (paragraph 10) developing sales areas (paragraph 12)
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important talks (paragraph 13) most important countries (paragraph 13) 7. Discuss these questions. What can spoil relations between companies? A foreign company is opening a branch in your country. What factors should it consider? In your experience are certain nationalities better at building relationship than others? If so, which ones? How can you build good business relationships? WRITING You are the Marketing Manager of Revona, a Belgian office furniture manufacturer. At a recent trade fair in Krakow, you met Marek Stawowy, the owner of a chain furniture shops with outlets throughout Poland. Mr Stawowy showed interest in your products. You would like to have a distributor in Eastern Europe. Write a formal letter (in 2000-250 words) to Mr Stawowy.
Communication 1. What makes a good communicator? Choose the three most important factors. • fluency in the language • a sense of humour • an extensive vocabulary • grammatical accuracy • being a good listener • not being afraid of making mistakes • physical appearance • an awareness of body language What other factors are important for communication? 2. Discuss these questions. 1 What forms of written and spoken communication can you think of? For example: e-mails, interviews 2 Which of the above do you like using? Why? 3 What problems can people have with them? 4 How can these problems be solved? 3. a) Which words below apply to good communicators? Which apply to bad communicators? articulate hesitant responsive
coherent inhibited sensitive
eloquent extrovert succinct
fluent persuasive reserved
focused rambling
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b) Which of the words in Exercise A have the following meanings? 1concise 2 reluctant to speak 3 talking in a confused way 4 able to express ideas well
5 clear and easy to understand 6 good at influencing people 7 outgoing 8 reacting in a positive way
4. Complete this talk by a communication expert with the verbs from the box. listen digress interrupt explain engage clarify
confuse ramble
‘Good communicators really 1 ....., to people and take in what is said. They maintain eye contact and have a relaxed body language, but they seldom 2 ……. and stop people talking. If they don’t understand and want to 3 …… something they wait for a suitable opportunity. When speaking, effective communicators are good at giving information. They do not 4 …… their listener. They make their points clearly. They will avoid technical terms, abbreviations or jargon. If they do need to use unfamiliar terminology they 5 …… by giving an easy to understand example. Furthermore, although they may 6 …… and leave the main point to give additional information and details where appropriate, they will not 7 …… and lose sight of their main message. Really effective communicators who have the ability to 8 …… with colleagues, employees, customers and suppliers are a valuable asset for any business. 5. Think of a good communicator you know. Explain why they are good at communicating. READING 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages for companies of using e-mail? 2. Select three of the items below which, in your opinion, best contribute to improving communication trust open plan offices voice mail e-mail mobile phones
flexi-time small teams strong corporate frequent meetings staff parties
Communication – it’s much easier said than done By Clare Gascoigne
Trust is key in an open organization. Getting staff to talk to each other ought to be the least of your problems, but internal communication can be one of the 5 hardest
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nuts to crack in business. ‘Communication comes up in every department. The repercussions of not communicating are vast,’ says Theo Theobald, co-author of “Shut up and Listen” “The Truth About” “How to Communicate at Work”. Poor communication can be a purely practical problem. Gearbulk, a global shipping business with branches around the world, faced language and geographical difficulties, as well as a huge amount of paperwork. With up to 60 documents per cargo, it was a logistical nightmare to track and monitor jobs, while tighter security regulations after 9/11 meant customs documents had to be ready before a ship was allowed to sail. Installing an automated system means data is now entered only once but can be accessed by anyone in the company, wherever they are. ‘Reporting is faster by a matter of months,’ says Ramon Ferrer, Vice President of Global IT at Gearbulk. ‘An operational team carrying a voyage all the way across the world doesn't always have to be talking to each other -and we don't waste time duplicating the same information.’ Given today’s variety of communication tools, it seems strange that we still have a problem communicating. But the brave new world of high-tech can create barriers - senior managers hide behind their computers, staff use voice mail to screen calls, and employees sitting next to each other will send e-mails rather than speak. ‘Managers should get up, walk round the office and talk to people,’ says Matt Rogan, Head of Marketing at Lane4, a leadership and communications consultancy. ’Face-to-face communication can't be beaten.’ Theobold recommends checking e-mail only three times a day, allocating a set period of time to deal with it. ‘If you leave the sound on, the temptation is as great as a ringing phone. People will interrupt meetings to check their e-mails.’ Another problem is simply hitting the ‘reply all’ button, bombarding people with information. ‘We had unstructured data coming at staff from left, right and centre, leaving it up to individuals to sort out,’ says Gearbulk’s Ferrer. ‘Our new system has reduced e-mails and changed the way people work. It will remind you about work flow.’ Information overload also means people stop listening. But there may be a deeper reason why a message fails to get through, according to so Alex Haslam, Professor of Psychology at Exeter University. ‘Everyone thinks a failure to communicate is just an individual’s error of judgment, but it’s not about the person: it’s about the group and the group dynamics,’ he says. ‘Just training people to be good communicators isn't the issue.’ The problem is that employees develop common loyalties that are far stronger than the need to share information. This can even extend to questions of safety. ‘In the mid-1990s there were a lot of light air crashes in Australia because the two government departments responsible for air safety weren’t communicating,’says Haslam. ‘The government was trying to save money and
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both groups felt threatened. The individuals were highly identified with their own organisation and unwilling to communicate with the other department.’ A company is particularly at risk when cost-cutting is in the air. Individuals withdraw into no departmental loyalties out of fear. Sending such people on yet another ‘how to communicate’ course will be pointless. Instead, Haslam believes that identifying the sub-groups within an organisation and making sure each group feels valued and respected can do far more to encourage the sharing of information. The key to communication, he says, is trust. From the Financial Times
3. Read the article again and answer these questions. 1 What communication problems did Gearbulk have? 2 How did Gearbulk overcome the problems? 3 What solutions does Theobald recommend for the above problems? 4 According to the author, why do staff often receive too many e-mails? 5 Why weren't the two government departments (responsible for air safety) communicating? 6 What does the author think about sending people on communication courses? 4. Which word in each group does not form a word partnership with the word in bold? 1 waste time resources information 2 face trouble problems difficulties 3 duplicate information time work 4 install systems factories equipment 5 save money time experience 6 develop truth loyalty motivation 7 share support information ideas 8 allocate time ideas resources 9 interrupt e-mails conversations meetings 5. Discuss these questions. ‘Face-to-face communication can’t be beaten.’ Do you agree? How could communication be improved in your organisation? How will communication change in the office of the future?
IDIOMS a) Complete these idioms with the missing words from the box. point wires
bush nutshell
grapevine picture
stick tail
wavelength purposes
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a) to put it in a ______ b) to get straight to the ______ c) to hear it on the ______ d) to put you in the ______ e) to get the wrong end of the ______ f) to be on the same ______ g) can’t make head or ______ of it h) to talk at cross _______ i) to beat about the ______ j) to get our crossed ______ b) Which of the idioms in Exercise a) mean the following? to fail to understand anything to share similar opinions and ideas to summarise briefly to misunderstand to delay talking about something to give the latest information to talk about the most important thing to hear about something passed from one person to another c) Complete the sentences with the idioms from Exercise a). 1 OK, I'll ……… I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go. 2 ‘You and your boss seem to agree on most things.’ ‘Yes, we are ……… . 3 Some important decisions were taken at yesterday's meeting. Let me ……… . 4 I think we are …….. I mean next month, not this month. 5 He never gives you a straight answer. He's always ……… . 6 I ……… that he's been fired. Is it true? 7 It's a very complicated system, but to ……… it works exactly like a big kettle. 8 If you think our biggest problem is market share then you have ……… . 9 This report makes no sense at all. I ……… . 10 Everyone arrived for the meeting at different times. We must have ……… . d) Ask your partner the following questions. 1 What have you heard on the grapevine recently? 2 When was the last time you got the wrong end of the stick? 3 When is it necessary to put someone in the picture? 4 In what situations is it good to beat about the bush? 5 In what situations is it good to get straight to the point? 6 Can you give an example of when you were talking at cross purposes? 7 Is there anything you can't make head or tail of?
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WRITING Read the e-mail from your company’s HR manager. Write a reply in approximately 200 words. Hi, It’s great you were able to come to the meeting yesterday. I realise You are quite concerned about those communication problems at our brunch office. It would be extremely useful if you could • send us a summery of current problems, • and let us have your suggestions how they could be resolved. Then we’ll be in a better position to help. Many thanks, Alex
Crisis management 1. Discuss the following. • What crises do business managers have to face? • When, in your opinion, does a business problem become a crisis? • Think of a crisis you have experienced. Say what happened and how it was handled. 2. Crisis management experts have identified the following key steps for companies in a crisis. Use them to complete the chart below. Then discuss your answers. 1 Set up a crisis management team. 2 Try to predict what crises could occur. 3 Role-play a potential crisis. 4 Inform the directors. 5 Disclose as much information as you can. 6 Analyse the actions you took to deal with the situation. 7 Write down and circulate your crisis management programme. 8 Practise making decisions under stress. 9 Work out an action plan to ensure the crisis does not happen again. 10 Find out what happened and how it happened. Before the crisis
During the crisis
After the crisis
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READING 1. Read the text of the interview with Mike Seymour, an expert on crisis management. What three crisis areas does he mention? Interviewer: What are the commonest crises that businesses face today? Mike Seymour: Today companies face crises in three areas. The first is when a brand or a product has a failure or a perceived failure or problem. The second area where there is perception that management or corporate behaviours have been not up to the requested standards and the last area are problems that have been highlighted by interest groups and activist groups. Of course, in crises perceptions are more important than the facts. Interviewer: How can companies prepare themselves to manage crises? Mike Seymour: Firstly, they have to accept that crises might happen and secondly, they have to make sure that they realise and understand all their audiences and groups that may take an interest when a crisis hits. And thirdly they need to prepare their plans and then test and validate them through exercises and training. Interviewer: Can you give us some examples of crises which were handled well? Mike Seymour: Yes, I’ll give you two examples. The first one, and probably the most well-known in the crisis management field is Johnson and Johnson’s handling of the Tylenol case. This is when some headache pills were spiked with cyanide which led to some deaths. Johnson and Johnson were very open and were very clear in what they were doing and they successfully brought the brand back to market. In the second case, Heineken, out of Amsterdam were faced with the problem of having 17 million bottles of beer with glass in them and these were in a 152 markets and again, through open communications and pro-active, response, they successfully managed the recall and maintained brand confidence. Interviewer: And can you tell us about some poorly managed crises? Mike Seymour: Two examples. The first one would be Union Carbide’s handling of the Bhopal tragedy in India, this is when a leak from a chemical plant killed many of the local community and in this case Union Carbide was secretive and slow to response and they were seen to be handling it very badly. And today there are still liability cases going on from this particular incident. The second case would be the Mercedes handling of the Baby-B, a new small car, which when it was tested by journalists in Scandinavia were found to be unstable and in spite of video evidence of the vehicle rolling, Mercedes, for three days continued to deny that this could possibly happen. Of course the public and the media became very cynical about the new product and it took some time to be able to win back this trust. 2. Summarise the example of Johnson & Johnson that Mike gives. 3. What are the characteristics of a) good crisis management, b) bad crisis management?
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READING 2 1. Imagine you are going for a holiday on a ship around the world. What problems could arise? 2.Read the article and answer these questions. 1) What went wrong with the ship? 2) How did the passengers feel and why? 3) What can happen if you do not deal effectively with a service failure? 4) What interesting statistic highlights the consequences of poor service? 5) What are the four basic principles you must consider when dealing with a crisis? 6) What do P&O and Thomas Cook have in common? 7) What is the surprising fact in the last paragraph? Keeping your client relationship afloat by Morgan Witzel
The passengers of the Aurora had every right to be angry. The round-the-world cruise for which they had paid thousands of pounds was cancelled after persistent engine problems. Yet there was little anger among the passengers. While the ship was held off the south coast of England, the passengers remained calm and even cheerful. Though many expressed regret as they finally disembarked, they were not hostile towards the ship’s operators, P&O. This may have been due to the company’s management of the crisis. Dealing with a service failure is a formidable task for any marketing manager. If poorly handled, the consequences can be bad public relations, desertion by customers and even lawsuits. The Aurora story shows how managers, if they move quickly, can avoid some of the worst effects of service failures. While high-profile cases are still relatively rare, companies everywhere may regularly suffer small service failures. Plumbers fail to fix leaking drains, restaurant meals are often undercooked or holidaymakers find their hotel room is directly above an all-night disco. Every failure is bound to create a dissatisfied customer, which in turn creates other problems for the company. Unhappy customers tend to tell others of their experience. Studies in the US have shown that dissatisfied customers tend to tell around ten other people of their bad experience; even worse, they can take their stories to the press. Dissatisfied customers also defect to rival businesses. Although every service failure will be different, some basic principles can assist in recovery. The first is early recognition of the problem. In P&O’s case this was easy: everyone involved knew that the large ship was not going anywhere. Other failures are harder to detect, especially when management is asleep at the wheel. The second principle is accepting responsibility. Many companies prefer to argue with customers over where responsibility lies, without realising that damage is being done regardless of who is at fault. Although there are limit to the responsibilities companies should accept - such as accidents and injuries that were Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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not the company’s fault - there is usually little profit in scoring moral victories over customers. Hence clothing retailers often have a no-questions-asked policy on returned goods, believing that the harm done by the occasional dishonest customer is more than outweighed by the satisfaction created among the rest. Once responsibility is accepted, the two most urgent needs for the company to address are communication and compensation. Transparency is vital. Academic studies have no shown that when faced with product or service failure, companies that communicate truthfully and promptly with their customers receive a favourable response. These customers feel that their concerns are actually being addressed and taken seriously. In the Aurora case, senior P&O managers were often on hand to provide information to passengers, who regarded this as a positive feature. Compensation must be carefully matched to the customer’s dissatisfaction. Too small an amount trivialises the customer’s experience and can give offence, but it is also possible to go too far the other way. Researchers in the US found an example of a hotel chain that had a policy of instantly refunding the full room rate to any guest with a genuine complaint, no matter how trivial. Yet many customers against expectations - found it embarrassing to be given hundreds of dollars in compensation when they had merely complained about a faulty light fixture or a dripping tap. Service industries often have their compensation benchmarks. In the holiday sector, the standard was set by the 19th-century inventor of the package holiday, Thomas Cook, who made it his policy to refund in full the money paid by any customer whose holiday was curtailed or cancelled, and offer a discount on their next booking. P&O’s policy would have pleased Cook - the company reportedly offered the same level of compensation to the passengers of the Aurora. Not every package holiday company follows this example. Following these simple principles should please most customers most of the time. Research across a wide variety of service industries over the past 20 years confirms that a successful service recovery operation reduces or even eliminates any consumer dissatisfaction. The aborted cruise of the Aurora was disappointing for P&O passengers. But the consequences could have been far worse. Many of the passengers said they planned to travel on a P&O cruise in the future. From the Financial Times
2. The writer provides guidelines for dealing with a crisis. Read the article again and complete the guidelines with words from the following box. encourage ensure
deal concede
compensate listen
communicate take
1 ………. that monitoring systems are efficient 2 ……… customers to complain 3 ……… with complaints
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4 ……… failures seriously 5 ……… to customer views 6 ……… responsibility where necessary and appropriate 7 ……… quickly and effectively 8 ……… customers fairly Now give some examples of crises which were either well or badly managed. Which of the guidelines in previous exercise were or were not followed? 3. a) Match words from each column to make word partnerships, adding the word of if necessary. For example, action plan, admission of liability. action admission contingency damage flow legal loss press press speed
action conference confidence information liability limitation plan plan release response
b) Complete these sentences with the word partnerships above. 1. How quickly management react to a crisis is known as the … 2. In a breaking crisis, a manager may speak to the media at a(n) … 3. Alternatively, they may have a written statement which is given to the media in the form of a …. 4. During the crisis, management may choose to keep customers, employees and shareholders up to date with a regular …. 5. A strategy for dealing with a crisis is a(n) … 6. A backup strategy is a(n) … 7. The risk of being taken to court is the threat of … 8. An acceptance of responsibility in a crisis is a(n) … 9. Following a crisis, a company may suffer a decline in loyalty from its customers, or a(n) … in its product or service. 10. Minimising the negative effects of a crisis is known as … 4. Answer these questions. Which of the above would you expect to happen or be needed a) before a crisis? b) during a crisis? c) after a crisis? Which of the above, in your opinion, should exist all the time?
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Effective Risk Management 1. Which item in each of the categories below carries the most and the least risk? Explain why. Travel car plane train ship
Lifestyle drinking alcohol poor diet smoking jogging
Money property stocks and share savings account cash
Shopping online mail order private sales auction
2. Are you a risk-taker? What risks have you taken? 3. What risks do businesses face? Note down three types. 4. Read the passage below. In most of the lines 1-10 there is one extra word which does not fit. Find them and write in the space provided. Some lines, however, are correct. In its everyday sense, risk often has negative connotations and is associated with danger, the loss, or accidents. In business, however, the concept is slightly more complex one. Risk is not Only about threats, but also about opportunities. This is summarised as in the popular saying who ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. Indeed, in order to grow, to become more profitable or competitive, businesses usually have to change direction, which it involves a certain amount of risk. Having said that, in business doing nothing is potentially more risky than moving forward and innovating. A company that plays it safe all the time and runs the risk of offering products which go unnoticed or which no longer meet up the needs of their customers.
1 ……………. 2 ……………. 3 ……………. 4 ……………. 5 ……………. 6 ……………. 7 ……………. 8 ……………. 9 ……………. 10 …………...
V OC A B U L A R Y 1. The verbs in the box are used to describe risk. Check their meanings and put them under the appropriate heading. calculate foresee
eliminate minimise
encounter prioritise
Predict
Meet
Access
estimate reduce
face spread
Manage
2. Match these halves of sentences from newspaper extracts. 1 Internet businesses in 2 We can reduce risk....
a) risks involved when sending staff to work dangerous locations. b) in order to advise insurance companies.
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3 Trying to minimise risk … 4 It is impossible to ... 5 It is difficult to foresee the risks ... 6 Actuaries calculate risk 7 It’s important to consider the...
c) involved in setting up a new business d) involved in setting up a new business e) eliminate all risk when entering a new market f) is an important part of business strategy g) by spreading our lending to more businesses h) face increasing risks of running out of money.
3. The following adjectives can be used with the word risk. Which describe a high level of risk? Which describe a low level? faint negligible slight
great remote substantial
huge serious terrible
minuscule significant tremendous
4. In pairs, talk about the risks facing one of the following: 1 your company / institution 2 your city / town 3 your country. READING 1. In today’s fast-changing world, how far ahead can companies realistically plan for the future? 2. The following risks are of concern to senior executives. Where do you think they fit into the table below? Changes in customer demand Loss of productivity due to staff absence / staff turnover Increased competition Losing key staff to competitors Changes in demographics
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PART 4 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT VOCABULARY The r isks that concer n senior executiv es
…………………………….. 1
…………………………….. 2 …………………………….. 3
Losing key staff to competitors Changes in demographic 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
The dangers of not looking ahead By Andrew Bolger
Risk management has undoubtedly moved up the corporate agenda in recent years with fears of war and terrorism being added to the usual list of business worries. Shivan Subramaniam, the Chairman and Chief Executive of FM Global, a commercial and industrial property insurer, says: ‘Corporations are operating in a turbulent world where businesses are seeking growth through globalisation, outsourcing, consolidation, just-in-time delivery and cross-border supply, further increasing their potential exposure to risk.’ ‘Add regulatory, legal and labour considerations, and you begin to understand the complex nature of business risk in the 21st century. While acts of terrorism receive the most coverage, it’s the more traditional events such as fires, floods, explosions, power failures or natural disasters that have the biggest impact.’ FM Global believes the majority of all loss can be prevented or minimised and this should be the first part of any disaster recovery plan. It also argues that prevention is better than cure and says there is a lot companies can do to stop such events from becoming a disaster in the first place. However, research shows that more than one-third of the world’s leading companies are not sufficiently prepared to protect their main revenue sources and have room for improvement. Ken Davey, a managing director with FM Global, says: ‘To best protect cash flow, competitive position and profit, companies need to assess the potential hazards that can impact top revenue sources and make sure there is business continuity planning.’ Lord Levene, chairman of the Lloyd’s insurance market, said recently that companies must be prepared for business interruptions, which accounted for 25 per Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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cent of the $40bn lost as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It was estimated that 90 per cent of medium to large companies that could not resume near-normal operations within five days of an emergency would go out of business. ‘Looking ahead 10 years I firmly believe that the most successful, least crisis-prone businesses will be those whose boards have shown firm resolve and taken decisive action,’ Lord Levene said. ‘Effective, integrated strategies for dealing with tomorrow’s risks require a change in culture at board level now.’ A new research report from Marsh, the world's biggest insurance broker, found that half of European companies did not know how to manage the most significant risks to their business. Most of Europe’s senior executives surveyed admitted that they did not have procedures in place to manage properly operational and strategic risks, which were responsible for most company failures in the twenty-first century. The survey found that the three most significant risks, and those that businesses felt least able to manage, were: • Increased competition • Adverse changes in customer demand • Reduced productivity because of staff absenteeism and turnover. ‘While business leaders are aware that these risks are the most threatening to their future survival and growth they are scratching their heads when it comes to protecting their businesses against them,’ says Neil Irwin, European development director of Marsh’s corporate client practice. ‘Management no processes could easily help companies identify and address these risks. Instead, too many companies take a low-level approach to risk management preferring to focus on easy-to-solve risks, such as asset protection and health and safety.’ Mr Irwin says: ‘Risk is dynamic, it changes with the environment. Unless businesses accept this and review risk regularly, they could eventually find themselves in a state of crisis, struggling to survive rather than focused on growth. Business leaders have an obligation to their employees, shareholders and other stakeholders to properly protect themselves against risk. Businesses that do attempt to manage these risks will boost their bottom lines.’ From the Financial Times
3. What types of risk are mentioned in the first three paragraphs? 4. Why are companies paying more attention to risk management? 5. Match the follow word partnerships as they appear in the article 1 business a) hazards 2 recovery b) interruptions 3 decisive c) sources 4 potential d) operations 5 integrated e) plan 6 revenue f) strategies 7 near-normal g) action
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6. Match the word partnerships to the most appropriate verb below. For example: develop integrated strategies take protect assess develop implement resume prepare for 7. Make your predictions. Which types of risk do you think will a) more significant in the next 50 years? b) become less significant in the next 50 years?
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PART 5 RECRUITMENT Brainstorm ideas how to find right person for a job. Complete a mind-map.
Right person for a job
V OC A B U L A R Y 1. Read the information below. Complete your sentences with the words in bold. The process of finding people for particular jobs is recruitment, or hiring. Someone who has been recruited is a recruit, or in American English, a hire. The company employs or hires them, they join the company. A company may recruit employees directly or use outside recruiters, recruitment agencies or employment agencies. Outside specialists called headhunters may be called on to headhunt people for very important jobs, persuading them to leave the organizations they already work for. This process is called headhunting. Managers found in this way are headhunted. Executives may be persuaded to move company by the promise of a golden hello: a large sum of money or some other financial enticement offered by the company they move to. 2. a) Match the verbs 1 to 6 to the nouns a) to f) to make word partnerships. 1. to train a) a vacancy / post 2. to shortlist b) an interview panel 3. to advertise c) the candidates 4. to assemble d) references 5. to make e) new staff 6. to check f) a job offer Now decide on a possible order for the events above from the employer’s point of view. b) Read the talk of consultant about the recruitment process to check your answers. Well, what usually happens is that an employer will advertise a vacancy or new post – sometimes both inside and outside the company. Then, after they have received all the applications, they shortlist the candidates, choosing those Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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who appear to meet their criteria. Next, they will assemble an interview panel and call the candidates to an interview. Some employers choose to check references at this stage to avoid delays later, while others wait until after the interview when they have chosen one of the candidates. Provided the panel are happy, the employer will make a job offer and the successful candidate starts work. Often they attend induction sessions or are given a mentor who helps to train new staff. 3. Complete the text using words or phrases from the box. curriculum vitae (CV) / resume probationary period interview application form psychometric test covering letter These days many applicants submit their ..…..1 speculatively to companies they would like to work for. In other words, they do not apply for an advertised job but hope the employer will be interested enough to keep their CV on file and contact them when they have a vacancy. When replying to an advertisement, candidates often fill in a / an …….2 and write a / an …….3. The employer will then invite the best candidates to attend a / an …….4. Sometimes candidates will take a / an …….5 before the interview to assess their mental ability and reasoning skills. These days it is normal for successful candidates to have to work a / an ……6 in a company. This is usually three or six months; after that they are offered a permanent post. 4. a) Which of these words would you use to describe yourself in a work or study situation? Add any other useful words. • motivated • dedicated • honest
• confident • loyal • adaptable
• reliable • determined • resourceful
• proud • charismatic • meticulous
b) Compare your answers with a partner. Which of the qualities in a) do you think are the most important to be successful in a job? 5. Choose the correct alternatives to complete the text below. Employees who leave a company are not always replaced. Sometimes the company examines the (1) ......... for the post, and decides that it no longer needs to be filled. On other occasions the company will replace the person who resigns with an internal candidate who can be (2) ......... (or moved sideways) to the job. Or it will advertise the position in newspapers or trade journals, or engage an employment (3) ......... to do so. For junior management positions, employers occasionally recruit by giving presentations and holding interviews in universities, colleges and business schools. For senior positions, companies sometimes use the
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services of a firm of (4) .......... who already have the details of promising managers. People looking for work or wanting to change their job generally read the (5) ......... advertised in newspapers. To reply to an advertisement is to (6) ......... for a job; you become an (7) ......... or a candidate. You write a/an (8) .......... or fill in the company's application form, and send it, along with your (9) ......... (GB) or resume (US). You are often asked to give the names of two people who are prepared to write a (10) ......... for you. If you have the right qualifications and abilities, you might be (11) .......... i.e. selected to attend a/an (12) ......... . It is not uncommon for the (13)......... department or the managers responsible for a particular post to spend eighty or more working hours on the recruitment of a single member of staff. However, this time is well-spent if the company appoints the right person for the job. 1. a. job description 2. a. advanced 3. a. agency 4. a. headhunters 5. a. openings 6. a. apply 7. a. appliance 8. a. appliance 9. a. job history 10. a. reference 11. a. appointed 12. a. examination 13. a. personal
b. job satisfaction b. employed b. centre b. headquarters b. opportunities b. applicate b. applicant b. application b. curriculum vitae (CV) b. report b. employed b. interview b. personnel
c. job security c. promoted c. company c. headshrinkers c. vacancies c. candidate c. application c. demand c. life history c. testimony c. short-listed c. trial c. resources
How to select the best candidate and avoid the worst READING 1. Read the text below and decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F). 1) Traditionally, candidates for executive positions have been evaluated on their technical skills. 2) The principal aim of testing is to find out how candidates have performed in the past. 3) Today, choosing the wrong person for a position can have more serious consequences than 10 years ago. 4) Most interviewers select candidates for their professional abilities. 5) Candidates are now better prepared for interviews than they were in the past.
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PART 5 RECRUITMENT How to select the best candidate and avoid the worst
Fit for hiring? it’s mind over matter By Judith H. Dobrzynski
NEW YORK – Members of America’s professional and managerial classes have always left college confident of at least one thing: they had taken their last test. From here on, they could rely on charm, cunning and/or a record of accomplishment to propel them up the corporate ladder. But that’s not necessarily true any longer. A growing number of companies, from General Motors Corp to American Express Co., are no longer satisfied with traditional job interviews. Instead, they are requiring applicants for many whitecollar jobs – from top executives down – to submit a series of paper and pencil tests, role-playing exercises, simulated decision-making exercises and brainteasers. Others put candidates through a long series of interviews by psychologists or trained interviewers. The tests are not about mathematics or grammar, nor about any of the basic technical skills for which many production, sales or clerical workers have long been tested. Rather, employers want to evaluate candidates on intangible qualities: Is she creative or entrepreneurial? Can he lead and coach? Is he flexible and capable of learning? Does she have passion and a sense of urgency? How will he function under pressure? Most important, will the potential recruit fit the corporate culture? These tests, which can take from an hour to two days, are all part of a broader trend. ‘Companies are getting much more careful about hiring,’ said Paul R. Ray Jr., chairman of the Association of Executive Search Consultants. Ten years ago, candidates could win a top job with the right look and the right answers to the question such as ‘Why do you want this job?’ Now, many are having to face questions and exercises intended to learn how to get things done. They may, for example, have to describe in great detail not one career accomplishment but many – so that patterns of behavior emerge. They may face questions such as ‘Who is the best manager you ever worked for and why?’ or ‘What is your best friend like?’ The answers, psychologists say, reveal much about a candidate’s management style and about himself or herself. The reason for the interrogations is clear: many hires work out badly. About 35 percent of recently hired senior executives are judged failures, according to the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, which surveyed nearly 500 chief executives. The cost of bringing the wrong person on board is sometimes huge. Searching and training can cost from $5000 for a lower level manager to $250,000 for a top executive. Years of corporate downsizing, a trend that has slashed layers of management, has also increased the potential damage that one bad executive can do. With the pace of change accelerating in markets and technology, companies what to know how an executive will perform, not just how he or she had performed. ‘Years ago, employers looked for experience – has a candidate done this before?’ said Harold P. Weinstein, executive vice-president of Caliper, a personnel Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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testing and consulting firm in Princeton, New Jersey. ‘But having experience in a job doesn’t guaranty that you can do it in a different environment.’ At this point, most companies have not shifted to this practice. Some do not see the need or remain unconvinced that such testing is worth the cost. But human resource specialists say anecdotal evidence suggests that white-collar testing is growing in popularity. What has brought so many employers around to testing in a sense of the limitations in the usual job interview? With so little information on which to base a decision, most people hire people they like, rather than the most competent person’, said Orv Owens, a psychologist in Snohomish, Washington, who sizes up executive candidates. Research has shown, he said, that ‘most decision makers make their hiring decision in the first five minutes of an interview and spend the rest of the time rationalizing their choice.’ Besides, with advice on how to lend a better job about as common as a tendollar bill, many people are learning to play the interview game. Even companies that have not started extensive testing have toughened their hiring practices. Many now do background checks, for example, looking for signs of drug use, violence or sexual harassment. But the more comprehensive testing aims to measure skills in communications, analysis and organization, attention to detail and management style; personality traits and motivations that behavioral scientists say predict performance. 2. Discuss the following questions in pairs. 1) How do you feel about the new way of the job interview you have read about? 2) Would you like to be tested like that or would you prefer a traditional interview? Why? 3) Underline and name the techniques used nowadays. 4) What kind of test would you give to the candidate if you were an employer? Make a list of questions you would ask.
READING 2 1. You will read the interview given by David Smyth, the Personnel Manager of a major European insurance company, answering questions about the way he interviews and selects candidates. In the first extract he talks about the four points listed below. Read and number them in the order in which he mentions them. Comment each point then. 1 the mistakes a candidate can make in an interview 2 the qualities a candidate must have 3 his advice to interviewees 4 the kinds of things a candidate is expected to know Personnel Manager: Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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The most important thing when interviewing a candidate is his character, his ability to react, his intelligence and his suitability for the position that … which … for which he is being interviewed. Interviewer: And uh, to what extent does the person’s appearance influence your decision? Personnel Manager: It doesn’t influence the decision, uh, but it does have some bearing on the decision, if you can take the difference between the two. It is important that the guy, the person, is well presented, is neat and tidy, and that he has a good manner, uh, because that shows a lot about his personality. Interviewer: Do you expect the candidate to be prepared in any way for the interview, or how should he prepare himself for the interview? Personnel Manager: Well, it’s not a question of preparing himself. In the position in which I am, uh, normally the candidate’s had at least one or maybe two interviews with other members, more junior member of staff before he gets to my level, unless the particular candidate is going to report to me, and in which case I expect the person concerned to have a fairly good knowledge of: (1) what the company does, (2) what he's going to be expected to do, and (3) who he's going to report to. Those things, those three items are very, very important and if the candidate, uh, does not give an impression of either understanding one of those three items, then obviously then he gets marked down accordingly. Interviewer: How does a candidate go wrong? Personnel Manager: The major way a candidate goes wrong is by basically becoming a yes-man or a yes-woman and agreeing with everything you say. What is most important... One of the most important things about interviewing a candidate is the chemistry between somebody, between the two people in the interview, em, it’s very very important - he has to have a spark, you have to feel as though that guy is going to contribute, that guy’s going to be good and you're going to get something out of that person and he has to show himself to be not just ‘Yes sir, thank you very much. Yes I agree with that, I agree with that.’ Sometimes I lay dummy questions in which I want a ‘no’ answer and if he continues to say ‘yes’ then he goes down.
Interviewer: What would your advice be to a candidate, er, going to an interview? How would you advise him? Personnel Manager: Uh, the first thing I would say to him is first of all to listen, secondly, to ask the right questions, and thirdly, perhaps the most important, is to create the right relationship which is, I guess, an adult-to-adult relationship with the interviewee or Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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the interviewer. It is very important and that’s what I said before is when you get a yes-man in front of you, or a yes-woman, then that person is obviously not creating an adult-to-adult conversation. He’s creating an adult-to-child conversation and in most cases, managers are not, if they're good and they know what they want, they’re not going to be interested in employing a child. 2. Read the second extract, David Smyth talks about the stages of an interview. Read what he says and complete the following chart. 1 Interviewer is informed that the candidate has arrived
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3 Candidate is asked what he or she knows about the job and the company 4
5 Interviewer gives candidate his views on the job and the company 6
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Personnel Manager: The interview normally takes place by me being informed that the candidate has arrived, in which case, urn, I leave my office and go and greet him in the reception area and bring him personally into my office and sit him across the desk, or across my office desk to me, and we proceed, uh, from there ... I normally start by asking the candidate to tell me what he ... since he’s been probably through two or three other interviews previous ... what the job is that he’s being expected to do, just to make sure that he’s understands fully. Then I ask him to tell me a little bit about Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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the company that we’re working for, that I'm working for anyway, so that he’s at least understood exactly what we do or the basics of what we do anyway ... er then I normally review his CV, and in particular either his previous employment or his current employment which is very important. Basically this is done to try to draw the candidate out, see how good he is at expressing himself, and to see what kind of character he is. Then I normally give him my views of what the position is that we’re recruiting for and also my view about the company, then I normally give him a period of 5 to 10 minutes to ask some questions. Then I go back to him and just talk about him, and maybe then when he’s fully relaxed, or more relaxed, put in a few of the trick questions, not a few, I would say usually normally one or maybe two maximum. As I said in a previous question, it normally lasts a minimum of 45 minutes if the candidate is up to scratch and can go on for about an hour. 3. Look at the questions that David Smyth uses during an interview. In which section of the interview would each question appear? a Have you ever been in a situation in which you lost your temper? b What sorts of projects did you work on during your time with them? c What do you know about our recent acquisitions in Latin America? d Did you have any trouble finding our building? e How do you deal with difficult people? f Which of the options that you took at university was the most interesting? g How ambitious are you? h Are there any questions that you'd like to ask me? 4. Work with a partner. 1) Think of the most common questions on a job interview? 2) Look at the following questions and decide how you would answer them. • Where do you see yourself in 5 years? • What are your salary requirements? • Why should we hire you? • Why did you leave your last job? • If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be? 3) What questions would you ask a potential manager? 4) Act out an interview according to the interview scheme from 3.3.B. Before you start tell your partner about a position you are going to hire him/her.
Headhunting READING 1. Read the article from the Financial Times about the headhunting profession, then answer the questions below. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Poacher turned tv star – Do headhunters deserve their BBC image?
Last night’s episode of Headhunters, a new BBC drama, does not present the trade in its most flattering light. Hall works for one of London’s foremost headhunting firms, where he spends his time on the mobile phone in constant search of bodies to ‘poach’. A client wants to hire an entertainment lawyer: Hall does better by persuading him to poach a whole team. When the head of the old law firm finds out that his valuable assets are about to leave he is so upset he kills himself. Headhunters have never been the most respected profession, but the message from the BBC seems to be that their ruthless tactics are pushing them to new depths of unpopularity. Tim Clark, an expert on headhunters at the Open University, argues that the business doesn’t deserve a bad name. He says that from the beginning people have viewed headhunting as a secretive, underhand business, disliking the process by which individuals are approached discreetly and persuaded to move jobs. ‘It’s an easy industry to pick on. So much of the business is confidential. People don’t know the full facts.’ So, what are the facts? Is there a moral problem with poaching? Might it be the responsibility of the headhunter to think about the mess that a person leaves behind when they change jobs? ‘The work is very sensitive,’ says Ian Butcher of Whitehead Mann. ‘You can create problems if you take out key people. But most senior businessmen recognize that that is part of the game. In any case, our loyalty is to the client.’… 1) What is normally ‘poached’ and from where? 2) If you use ruthless tactics, do you consider the feelings of other people? Does ruthless show approval or disapproval of these tactics? 3) If you describe activity as underhand, do you approve of it? 4) If X picks on Y, is Y able to defend himself of herself properly? 5) Does Ian Butcher sympathize with the companies that he persuades people to leave? 2. Dr. Simon Kingston works for the international executive search consultants Heidrick and Struggles. Read his interview and complete the chart below. Methods for identifying candidates ……….1 in newspapers or
Asking for ……..3 from the organization
Own original ………….4
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…………..2 From our …………..5
From talking to ……………..6
From beginning to ……..7 the business …..8
Cross-……….9
Interviewer: How do you identify and attract the best candidates for a particular job? Dr. Simon Kingston: Well, the most important thing for us at the beginning is to have clear and full briefing from our clients. So we spend a great deal of time talking to a range of people in the client organisation. And then, according to the sort of job that we are seeking to fill, we will use three different sorts of method for identifying candidates. One, the most obvious one, is advertisement in appropriate newspapers or journals. The second is by asking for nominations from within our client organisation of appropriate candidates. And the third, and most labour intensive for us, is our own, original research. And that will be derived from our database, from talking to authoritative sources in the relevant market place, and then from beginning to map the business sector in which we think we are most likely to find good candidates. All three of those different methods of identifying candidates will cross-reference, and ideally we'd like to find candidates who're sourced from each of the three areas. And sometimes, when we’re very fortunate, we will find an individual who comes referred from each of the three approaches. In respect of our own research, it’s always very valuable for us to be able to speak, at the beginning of a search, to experts Simon mentions three different types of experts which his company usually speaks to at the beginning of an executive search. Who are they? Which qualities does Lord Browne at BP demonstrate, according to Simon? DISCUSSION 1. Read the two case studies below and answer these questions. 1 What job did the men do? 2 Why were their employers upset? 3 Who apologized? Who accepted the change? 4 Who intends to sue his employer? Why? Case 1 John Humphries aged 62, is a lorry driver who is proud of being well-dressed for work. However, his employer told him that he must not come to work in a Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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collar and tie to drive his 17-tonne lorry. If he did so, he faced the sack. When working, Mr Humphries, an ex-Royal Airforce man, wore dark blue trousers, a light blue shirt, and a red and grey striped tie. He felt he looked smart and impressed the customers. ‘If you present yourself properly, you look good and get respect,’ he said. Mr Humphries’ employers were not impressed when he refused to give up his collar and tie. They wanted him to conform to the company’s new image of casual clothing such as T-shirts or sweat shirts. They even threatened to dismiss him if he didn’t accept their new dress code. Union officials advise him to accept the change and follow the company’s policy. He agreed. Case 2 Yoshiaki Nishiura, a 25-year-old lorry driver from western Japan, was sacked because he dyed his hair brown. (This is a popular fashion with a growing number of young Japanese.) Although he apologised and dyed it back again, he was still fired. His employer, Mr Yamago, believed that behaviour like Mr Nishiura’s undetermined discipline and corrupted morale. He blamed it on American influence. ‘We need drivers to maintain a professional appearance to make a good impression,’ he said. A Japanese journalist said, ‘Japanese firms expect all employees to look the same and think the same.’ When you enter a company, you sign away your human rights.’ Mr Nishiura is going to sue his employer for unfair dismissal. 2. Discuss these questions 1. What do you think of: a) the employers’ decisions? b) the employees’ reactions? 2. How important is your personal appearance at work? Think about formal clothing, uniforms, men with earrings, and tattoos, etc. 3. Match the adjectives in column A to the nouns in column B.
A growing human company professional good unfair
B dismissal appearance number rights discipline impression
4. Now complete these sentences with word partnerships from the list. 1. It is important to make a ………… …………. at an interview by dressing appropriately.
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2. In a case of ………… ……………, an employee may sue a company to get their job back or to receive financial compensation. 3. A ………… ………….. of firms realize that their employees’ appearance is important. Therefore, many companies are introducing dress codes for their staff. 4.If a management allows staff to be absent from work without reason, this will affect ……………. ……………… . 5. When dealing with customers directly, it is important to have a ………… …….. 6. Some people say that being able to go on strike and having a minimum wage are basic ………… ……….. . 5. Read the advertisement, then read about candidates, choose the best candidate. Discuss your choice in groups. Personal Assistant Our client is an internationally renowned media personality who has recently been suffering health problems. An opportunity has arisen for a personal assistant. Medical support is to be provided separately. Job specification The duties will include: • driving our client to and from public engagements • organising overseas travel • overseeing the general running of the household • assisting with word processing and providing secretarial support Key skills • An ability to prioritise and work to deadlines • French would be an advantage Qualifications • full, clean driving licence • high degree of computer literacy • first aid certificate (desirable) Person specification We are looking for somebody who: • can offer flexibility, as some evening and weekend work will be necessary • is enthusiastic and professional, with a good sense of humour • has previous experience of a PA-type role Employment conditions A contract will be offered for a six-month fixed term in the first instance. A generous package will include a non-contributory pension allowance, thirty-five days’ holiday, the use of a car, and free self-contained accommodation. Please send your CV with covering letter outlining your suitability for the position to: Frances Murray, Media Appointments, 37–39 Walton Street, London W1
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Interviewer’s notes Jenny Logan • 18 • Fluent in French • Has been offered a place at Oxford university • Can’t drive but is learning • Some computer literacy • No previous work experience, but voluntary work with elderly people • Very confident, mature for her age, easy-going
Roger Myles • 54 • Single parent – two young children • Can’t speak French • Degree in nursing • Can drive • Computer literate • Former travel agent • Available immediately • Shy, withdrawn, but very professional persona • Calm, unflappable
Jane Thompson • 42 • Elementary French • Degree in psychology • Can drive • Some computer literacy • Experience as a PA • Recently divorced – had to give up her last job as a result of stress • Available immediately • Lively, good sense of humour, very energetic
Project work: Think of a company you would like to work for. Imagine that you are a HR manager. Complete advertisement of vacant positions to hire executives, middle managers, officers and workers. Explain your choice. To have samples of vacancies’ ads visit the fallowing sites: • http://www.monster.co.uk/ • http://www.reed.co.uk/ • http://www.eurojobs.com/ • http://www.jobsearch.co.uk/
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MODULE 2 PART 6 MARKETING AND ITS COMPONENTS Definition of Marketing 1. There are many different definitions of marketing. Consider some of the following alternative definitions. Which definition is right in your view? Give reasons for the most correct one. • ‘The all-embracing function that links the business with customer needs and wants in order to get the right product to the right place at the right time’ • ‘The achievement of corporate goals through meeting and exceeding customer needs better than the competition’ • ‘The management process that identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably’ • ‘Marketing may be defined as a set of human activities directed at facilitating and consummating exchanges’ In short, all definitions are right. They all try to embody the essence of marketing: • Marketing is about meeting the needs and wants of customers; • Marketing is a business-wide function – it is not something that operates alone from other business activities; • Marketing is about understanding customers and finding ways to provide products or services which customers demand B. Tell about key elements of marketing and their relationships. Work in pairs to comment this diagram.
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READING 1. Complete the text using the correct form of these verbs: What is Marketing? anticipate modify
divide offer
fill share
influence sell
involve understand
A market can be defined as all the potential customers (1) ……… a particular need or want. Marketing is the process of developing, pricing, distributing and promoting the goods or services that satisfy such needs. Marketing therefore combines market research, new product development, distribution, advertising, promotion, product improvement, and so on. According to this definition, marketing begins and ends with the customer. Truly successful marketing (2) ......... the customer so well that the product or service satisfies a need so perfectly that the customer is desperate to buy it. The product almost (3) ……… itself. Of course this will only happen if the product or service is better than those of competitors. Companies are always looking for marketing opportunities - possibilities of (4) ……… unsatisfied needs in areas in which they are likely to enjoy a differential advantage, due to their particular competencies. Marketing opportunities are generally isolated by market segmentation - (5) ......... a market into submarkets or segments according to customers requirements or buying habits. Once a target market has been identified, a company has to decide what goods or services to (6) ........., always remembering the existence of competitors. Marketers do not only identify consumer needs; they can (7)......... them by developing new products. They will then have to design marketing strategies and plan marketing programmes, and then organize, implement, and control the marketing effort. Once the basic offer, for example a product concept, has been established, the company has to think about the marketing mix — the set of all the various elements of a marketing programme, their integration, and the amount of effort that a company can expend on them in order to (8)......... the target market. The best-known classification of these elements is the 4 P’s: Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Aspects to be considered in marketing a product include its quality, its features, style, brand name, size, packaging, services and guarantee, while price includes consideration of things like the basic list price, discounts, the length of the payment period, and possible credit terms. Place in a marketing mix includes such factors as distribution channels, coverage of the market, locations of points of sale, inventory size, and so on. Promotion groups together advertising, publicity, sales promotion, and personal selling. The next stage is to create long-term demand, perhaps by (9)......... particular features of the product to satisfy changes in consumer needs or market conditions.
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Marketing can also involve the attempt to influence or change consumers’ needs and wants. Companies try to do this in order to sell their products; governments and health authorities sometimes try to change people’s habits for their own good or for the general good. In other words, marketing also (10) ......... regulating the level, timing and character of demand. 2. Now translate the highlighted expressions in the text into your own language. 3. Work in groups and prepare an empty diagram on the basis of the text ‘What is Marketing?’ Exchange the diagrams and complete them.
SPEAKING 1. Imagine that you are going into a local shop - it can be any type or size of shop. Type in your responses to the following questions: • Why are you going into the shop you have chosen? • Identify two things you will look for in deciding what to buy in the shop. • What do you think the people who own and/or work in the shop are trying to do? • Identify two things that the shop owners/workers might consider in the way they set out the goods/services in the shop. • Do you think a shop is an example of a market? Give a reason for your answer. 2. Look carefully at each of the images below.
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3 4 All of the images here represent some form of market where buyers and sellers are being brought together. In pairs, see if you can identify the following: • Who might the buyers be in each example above? • What is being sold in each case? • What factors might determine how much of each item will be sold? Compare your answers with those of other pairs in your class. 3. Do a brainstorm session on the factors that affect spending decisions by buyers and sellers. Brainstorming means you don’t have to give any reasons; just think of as many factors as possible. You could write down the list as a table with ‘buyers’ in one column and ‘sellers’ in another. Alternatively, you could produce a poster with all your ideas on - one for buyers and one for sellers, or you could even produce a mind map. If you decide on a poster or mind map, try to make it as colourful as possible. 4. The word search below contains a range of different activities/names that involve markets. Identify all the words and then explain what sort of market you think each word is and what is being bought and sold. The example below shows you how to set out the task using the word 'bank': Example: Bank - financial market for buying and selling banking services such as deposits, loans, insurance, mortgages and buying currency. Go straight to Demand and Supply • Restaurant • Leisure centre • HMV • Top Shop • Phones 4U • Supermarket • Cafe • Hotel • Bank Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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5. Complete the text using these words: appealing existing
competing minimizing
developing purchasing
forecasting switching
dividing targeting
Market segmentation means (l)......... market into distinct subsets of customers with different needs, according to different variables that can play a role in (2)......... decisions. These can include geographical factors - region, population density (urban, suburban, rural), size of town, and climate; demographic factors such as age, sex, family size, or stage in the family life cycle; and other variables including income, occupation, education, social class, life style, and personality. If there is only one brand in a market, it is likely to be positioned in the centre, so as to attract the most consumers possible. (3)......... to all groups from the centre with an undifferentiated product gives a company the largest potential market, while (4) ......... production, inventory, market research and product management costs. A new competitor can either situate its product next to the (5)……… one, in a straightforward battle for market share, or try to find a corner of the market in order to gain the loyalty of a consumer group not satisfied with the centre brand. If there are several brands in the market, they are likely to position themselves fairly evenly throughout the space and show real differences to match differences in consumer preference. If, on the other hand, several producers are (6)......... for the largest centre segment, new entrants onto the market will probably find that smaller segments with less competition are more profitable. In fact, (7)……… a particular market segment is often the only realistic strategy for firms with limited resources, although it can be risky, as the segment might get smaller or even disappear, or be attacked by a larger competitor, At the beginning of a product's life cycle, companies often produce only one version, and attempt to develop demand by undifferentiated marketing, before (8)......... to differentiated marketing in the product's maturity stage. Differentiated marketing involves (9) ……… several brands, each positioned in a different segment. This obviously maximizes total sales, but equally increases R&.D, planning, market research, (10)........., production, promotion, administration and inventory costs. 6. How many of these verbs also exist unchanged as nouns? What are the nouns related to the other verbs? appeal consume gain position segment
battle cost increase prefer share
brand cycle manage purchase situate
centre develop mature research switch
compete forecast need risk target
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Market Research READING 1. a) What is ‘market research’? What things are researched when this marketing activity is conducted? b) Read the text and check your ideas. Market Research Oh no, we’d never develop and launch a product solely on the basis of guesswork. That’s much too risky. You can’t just trust the intuition of senior managers or product managers, you have to do market research. That’s what we call it in Britain; in the States they say marketing research. We collect and analyse only engage in field work, and gather primary data from customers, information about the size of a potential market, about consumers’ tastes and habits their reactions to particular product features, packaging features, and so on. Lots of people think that market research just means going out and asking consumers for their opinions of products, but that’s not true. Actually, talking to customers is a relatively minor market research tool, because it’s very expensive. In fact, personal interviewing is the very last thing we’d do. We usually find that our own accounts department, which keeps records of sales, orders, inventory size, and so on, is a far more important source of information. Our sales representatives are another good source. There are also a lot of printed sources of secondary data we can use, including daily, weekly and monthly business newspapers, magazines and trade journals, our competitors’ annual reports, official government statistics, and reports published by private market research companies. We both internal research (analysis of data already available in the accounts and sales departments) and secondary data (available in printed sources) are inadequate. If we do go out and do field work it’s usually a survey, which you can use to collect information about product and packaging features, and to measure the effectiveness of advertising copy, advertising media, sales promotions, distribution channels, and so on. An effective and relatively inexpensive method of survey research is the focus group interview, where we invite several members of the target market (and pay them a small amount of money) to meet and discuss a product concept. The interview is led by a trained market researcher who tries to find out the potential consumers’ opinions and feelings about the product. Focus groups are informative, but they’re usually too small for us to be sure that the chosen sample of consumers is statistically valid. Questionnaire research, involving many more respondents, is more likely to be statistically significant as long as we make sure we select the appropriate sampling unit - whether it’s a
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random sample of the population, or a sample of a selected category of people and the sample size is sufficiently large. When we’ve established a sample, we do the interviews, normally by telephone or mail, sometimes by personal interviewing. 2. Answer the questions. 1 Who is responsible for market research? 2 What are the sources for getting information during market research? 3 What methods of market research can you name? 4 What is the cheapest/most expensive method of market research? 5 What method would you choose if you had to research the market? READING 2 1. Read the text below which describes how Shell Oil developed a new brand image, and see if it mentions any of the market research methods. What techniques did Shell Oil use?
H E L L O T O GOOD B U Y S A new marketing campaign promising hassle free and faster fuel buying for customers is under way in America. Suzanne Peck reports on the 18-month research project which involved Shell Oil researchers 'moving in' with their customers to test their buying habits. 1 Three years ago when Sam Morasca asked his wife what could be done to exceed her expectations when buying gasoline, her answer ‘that I would never have to think about it any more’ made him pause and think. The marketing people from Shell Oil Products, of which Sam is vice-president, were desperately seeking ways to increase the business, and to come up with a strategy which would put them clearly ahead of their competition by differentiating the Shell Oil brands in the eyes of consumers. ‘We are big business for Shell Oil, contributing US $7 bn of revenue, and the leading retailer of gasoline, but it is a fragmented market and the mission was to profitably expand the business,’ said Sam. 2 Today, after 18 months of cutting edge research, Shell Oil is on track to make buying fuel at their 8,900 service stations clearly different with a new brand initiative. Its aim is to deliver through facilities, systems upgrades, and new operating practices, a hassle-free fueling experience targeted at specific customer segments. 3 Over the past few years, the company has been developing detailed knowledge of consumer needs and attitudes, which formed the basis for the new brand initiative. Team leader Dave Yard, manager of Strategy and Planning Marketing, picks up the story. ‘We began with a customer segment study of 55,000 people, who we stopped in shopping malls in six cities for a 45-minute Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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interview into their attitudes, especially regarding driving and cars. The result was that competitive price, a nearby location and good quality fuel -something they all believed was already being delivered by the industry.’ 4 This meant their buying decisions were influenced by other factors - some wanted full-serve outlets like the old days, some chose a service station depending on whether it looked safe or not. ‘There were ten different segments with different needs, and we wanted a better understanding of each of these audiences.’ 5 A focus group was set up for each segment; an anthropological study was carried out, which involved team members spending waking hours with people from each segment, watching them at home and accompanying them on shopping trips to see their buying habits; and a clinical psychologist was hired to create a psychological profile of each segment. 6 The study indicated that three groups, which comprised 30% of the driving public, should be targeted: Premium Speeders - outgoing, ambitious, competitive and detail orientated. They drive upmarket cars which make a statement about them. Efficiency rules, plus fast pumps, quick access and payment. Simplicity Seekers - loyal, caring and sensitive, frustrated with complexities of everyday life. Want simple easy transactions. Safety Firsters - control orientated, confident people, like order and comfort of the familiar. Higher value on relationships and go out of their way to stations that make them feel comfortable. Prefer to stay close to cars. 7 ‘The common thread was that they all wanted a faster and easier service than anything already available,’ said Dave, ‘so the study ended and the launch began.’ 8 The field organisation and Shell Oil retailers combined forces to determine how to eliminate the little hassles that customers sometimes face, such as improved equipment and clearer instructions at the pump. New innovations are currently being test marketed. A new advertising campaign was launched and a sophisticated measurement system introduced to monitor satisfaction, behavior and perception of the brand. ‘Fueling a car is a necessity of life and I believe we are ahead of the game - but we won't allow ourselves to stop and be caught up.’ 2. Read the text again and number the different stages in the research project in the correct order. a They analysed the results, which showed that there were 10 different consumer segments. b Focus groups studied the 10 segments. c Shell Oil's marketing team decided to differentiate the Shell brand from the other brands on the market. d Shell launched a new advertising campaign. e They interviewed 55,000 people about their attitudes to driving and cars in general. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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f Work started on improving products and services. g They carried out a detailed study of the market over 18 months. h Three groups were chosen as the target markets. 3. Find words and expressions in the text relating to ‘The Four Ps’ of the Shell marketing mix. Example: Product - good quality 4. Match the words from the text with their corresponding 1. to exceed (para 1) a) a part or section 2. a mission (para 1) b) a group of interested people 3. an initiative (para 2) c) an important new plan with a particular 4. a segment (para 2) aim 5. an audience (para 4) d) an assignment or task 6. a profile (para 5) e) to find out / to discover 7. to determine (para 8) f) to check at regular intervals 8. to monitor (para 8) g) to be more than h) a description of the characteristics of someone or something 5. a) Find words and expressions in the text which correspond to the following definitions. Many different types of consumer who buy the same product (para 1) fragmented market The most advanced and up to date (para 2) c_______ e_____ Conclusions people reach about which products to purchase (para 4) b_____ d_____ An informal discussion group used for market research (para 5) f_____ g_____ A shared characteristic (para 7) c_____ t_____ A method of evaluation (para 8) m_____ s_____ b) Complete the passage using words from Vocabulary 4 and 5 a). Change the form of the words where necessary. As more and more industries are making products specifically adapted to particular 1 ……… of the market, market researchers are being asked to conduct studies and to compile more detailed 2……… of consumer groups. Broad classifications based on sex, age and social class are not sufficient for companies operating in highly competitive and 3 ……… . Questionnaires are carefully designed to 4 ……… the exact needs and demands of consumers as well as Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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establishing what affects consumer 5 ……… when they choose one product instead of another. Advertising campaigns can then be targeted to appeal to the identified 6 ……… . Finally, marketing people must 7 ……… the success of the campaign and modify it if necessary.
V OC A B U L A R Y 1. You are attending a marketing training seminar in English. The following practice is based upon your notes from the workshop. Underline the appropriate idea to complete this basic description of marketing. In the past marketing was (customer-driven/product-driven) where business emphasized the product first and (considered/confronted) the customer last. Nowadays the reverse strategy is the key to successful marketing. Products and services are created (to mean/to meet) customer needs. Moreover, marketing must make use of its four basic components to be effective: • Sales • Promotion • Advertising • (Public Relations/Possible Requirements) or PR In each aspect marketing aims for a solid customer base and increased (turnaround /turnover). Improving marketing performance is essential to be ahead of the competition/ concentration). 2. Circle the words that can be combined with ‘market’. overseas developing
service competence
leader potential
survey business
upscale share
country
Write the possible combinations, before or after ‘market’. ....................... market..................... ....................... market..................... ....................... market..................... ....................... market..................... ....................... market..................... ....................... market..................... ....................... market..................... 3. Match the marketing components to the right description. The ‘Marketing Mix’ consists of the 4 P’s: * Product where the customers can buy it * Promotion one that meets the customer need * Price to encourage the customer to buy it
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* Place
one that makes company profit and keeps the customer satisfied
4. Place the following words and phrases under the right marketing heading. Some of the ideas might belong to more than one category. media to announce press release special offer billboards discounts banners to call on (customers) to sponsor free samples reputation coupons campaign to display negotiation internet follow-up to bargain press conference to endorse commercials SALES …………. …………. …………. …………. ………….
PROMOTION .…………….. ……………… ………………. ………………. ……………….
ADVERTISING ………………… ………………… ………………… ………………… …………………
PR …………….. …………….. …………….. …………….. ……………..
Complete these sentences to describe the marketing categories. • The sales department handles _______________________________________. • Promotion involves_______________________________________________. • Advertising includes______________________________________________. • PR deals with ___________________________________________________. 5. Finish the sentence pairs/ groups using the noun form of the highlighted corresponding verb. * We will announce our marketing plans at the meeting tomorrow. We will make an _____________________ about our marketing plans at the meeting tomorrow. * He wants to bargain with the customer. He wants to offer a ______________ to the customer. * Rolex sponsors the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament. Rolex is a ____________ of Wimbledon. Every year Rolex gives its _________________ to Wimbledon. * Shops can display new products. Shops can set up special ____________ for new products. * Famous sports stars often endorse sports clothing and accessories. _________ from famous sports stars helps to sell sports clothing and accessories. Project work: Below is a list of links to top companies who have a variety of brands making up their business. Choose five products and services (ensure
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that at least two of your choices are services) and identify the relevance of the 4 Ps to the product/service of your choice. Unilever - range of brands covering foodstuffs, perfumes, household cleaners, ice creams, etc. http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/ Nestlé - again, a range of brands covering food, cereals, confectionary, drinks and dairy products http://www.nestle.com/Brands/Brands.htm The Mars directory http://www.mars.com/global/Who+We+Are/Who+We+Are.htm A Mercedes dealership network http://www.mercedes-enzofcanterbury.co.uk/ Dell computer products http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/dimen?c=uk&l=en &s=dhs NatWest - banks provide 'products' which also double up as services in most cases! http://www.natwest.com/personal.ashx South West Trains - an important service for thousands of people every day! http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/SWTrains BUPA private health care service http://www.bupa.co.uk/ These are just examples - you can of course select products or services of your own choosing. Example: Stella Artois Brief description - premium grade, relatively strong lager. - Price is relatively high compared to other brands, suggesting it is not as important in the mix whereas the product itself is important - it relies on a reputation of quality to justify the higher price. - Place is vital - the more places it is available, the higher sales are likely to be. The combination of bottles, cans, draught, etc. means it has a wider availability. - This suggests, with the increased methods of selling recently introduced, that process is becoming more important. - Promotion is high profile - using ‘upmarket’ events such as the summer tennis championships, sophisticated adverts highlighting its quality emphasised by the phrase ‘reassuringly expensive’. - People and physical environment play little part in the overall marketing mix of the product.
Part 7
COMPETITION AND COMPETITIVENESS Definition of competition
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1. Give the definition to the following words: to compete, competition, competitor, and competitiveness. Compare your definitions with definitions given by your group mates
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Companies and markets You can talk about the people or organizations who buy particular goods or services as the market for them, as in the ‘car market’, ‘the market for financial services’, etc. Buyers and sellers of particular goods or services in a place, or those that might buy them, form a market. If a company: enters/penetrates
it starts selling there for the first time.
abandons/ gets out of/ leaves
it stops selling there.
dominates a market
it is the most important company selling there.
corners/ monopolizes
it is the only company selling there.
drives another company out of
it makes the other company leave the market, perhaps because it can no longer compete.
More word combinations with ‘market’. 'Market' is often used in these combinations:
Market
growth segment segmentation share leader
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Competitors and competition Companies or products in the same market are competitors or rivals. Competitors compete with each other to sell more, be more successful, etc. The most important companies in a particular market are often referred to as key players. Competition describes the activity of trying to sell more and be more successful. When competition is strong, you can say that it is intense, stiff, fierce or tough. If not, it may be described as low-key. The competition refers to all the products, businesses, etc. competing in a particular situation, seen as a group. ‘Competing’ and ‘Competitive’ Competing and Competitive are adjectives related to competition. Two companies may produce competing products – products that compete with each other. A competitive product is one that has real and specific benefits in relation to others of the same type.
Competitive
Competing
position – where a company is in relation to its competitors in terms of size, growth, etc. pressure – the force that one competitor can bring to bear in relations to another prices – prices that are similar to or lower than those for similar products threat – something that one competitor may do to weaken another’s position advantage, edge – superior products, performances, etc. that competitor can offer in relation to others strategy – a plan or plans for success in relation to competitors, and the study of this in business schools bids – price offers for a company in a takeover offerings – products from different companies suppliers – companies offering similar products or services technologies – technical ways of doing something
1. Use the correct form of the words in brackets to complete the sentences. 1European films do not export well: European movies barely ……… (abandon/corner/penetrate) the US market. 2 In the 1970s, Kodak ……… (corner/enter/leave) the instant photography market, until then ……… (abandon/dominate/penetrate) by Polaroid. 3 The Hunt brothers tried to fix silver prices and to……… (corner/enter/leave) the silver market, ……… (enter/drive out/monopolize) all competitors. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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4 In the 1940s, MGM ……… (abandon/get out of/monopolize) the market on film musicals. But by the late 1950s, Warner Bros had also started buying film rights to musicals. 2. Replace the underlined expressions with expressions from vocabulary. You may need to add a verb in the correct form. I’m Kalil and I'm marketing manager for CrazyCola in a country called Newmarket. In this market, we (1) sell more than any other cola. In fact, we (2) have 55 per cent of the market. (3) Sales are increasing at seven to eight per cent per year. There are two main (4) groups of users: those who drink it in cafes, bars and restaurants, and those who buy it to drink at home. Of course, many users belong to both groups, but this is our (5) way of dividing our consumers. 3. a) Read this description of a language training market. Answer the questions. In Paris, 500 organizations offer language training to companies. However, 90 per cent of sales are made by the top five language training organizations. The market is not growing in size overall. Organization A has 35 per cent of the market, and faces stiff competition from B, which has about 25 per cent of the market, and from C, D and E, who each have 10 per cent, but who are trying to grow by charging less for their courses. 1. How many competitors are there in this market? 2. Is competition in the market strong? 3. Who is the market leader? 4. Who are the two key players? 5. Who mainly makes up the competition, from the market leader’s point of view? 6. If one competitor increases its market share, can the others keep their market share at the same level? 4. Match the two parts of these extracts containing expressions with ‘competing’. 1 What is to stop supposedly competing 2 Commtouch can position itself in the middle of the competing 3 Diamond Fields Resources Inc was the target of competing 4 The software is 25 per cent cheaper than competing a bids from mining giants Inco Ltd and Falconbridge Ltd. b suppliers from secretly agreeing to keep prices high? c offerings, with prices ranging from $300 to $450. d technologies by offering ‘unified messaging solutions’
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5. Complete sentences with words that can follow ‘competitive’ 1. He was criticized for being Eurocentric and failing to pay sufficient attention to the competitive …………… from South east Asia. 2. Business can sustain their performances over the long term by having some competitive …………… to keep them ahead. (2 possibilities) 3. For the money-conscious consumer, alternative retail outlets can offer organic food at more competitive …………… . 4. First Chicago will enhance its competitive ………….. and boost its financial growth through the transaction, which is expected to add to earnings immediately. 5. Mall stores are under more competitive ……… than at any time in their 40year history, with new discounters and superstores increasingly moving in alongside traditional malls. 6. Decades of management theorizing around the world have produced mountains of books, many of which promise to deliver the secrets of success. But there is no consensus on competitive …………….. . 6. a) Choose the correct adjective from each pair to make word partnerships with ‘competition’. strong/hard fierce/aggressive dirty/unfair heavy/tough intense/deep
competition
b) Match the verbs with the prepositions (where necessary) to make phrases with ‘competition’. respond cope face ignore welcome Adapt avoid
up to with to ——
competition
READING
1. There are different type of market players. We can usually find four main ones. Match a type of a market player to its definition. 1 market leader is 2 market challenger is
a company
a) with the second largest market share b) with the largest market share
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3 market follower is the 4 nicher is
or product
c) that focuses on a small segment of market d) that is not a threat to the leader
Operating in the market companies choose different marketing strategies. Read the text and • summarise the key points of these strategies, • point out the factors influencing the choice of a strategy. Marketing Strategies A company’s marketing strategies - sets of principles designed to achieve longterm objectives - obviously depend on its size and position in the market. Other determining factors are the extent of the company’s resources, the strategies of its competitors, the behaviour of the consumers in the target market, the stage in the product life-cycle of the products it markets, and the overall macro-economic environment. The aim of a market leader is obviously to remain the leader. The best way to achieve this is to increase market share even further. If this is not possible, the leader will at least attempt to protect its current market share. A good idea is to try to find ways to increase the total market. This will benefit everyone in the field, but the market leader more than its competitors. A market can be increased by finding new users for a product, by stimulating more usage of a product or by exploiting new uses which can sometimes be uncovered by carrying out market research with existing customers. To protect a market share, a company can innovate in products, customer services, distribution channels, cost reductions, and so on; it can extend and stretch its product lines to leave less room for competitors; and it can confront competitors directly in expensive sales promotion campaigns. Market challengers can either attempt to attack the leader, or to increase their market share by attacking various market followers. If they choose to attack the leader, market challengers can use most of the strategies also available to market leaders: product innovation, price reductions, cheaper or higher quality versions, improved services, distribution channel innovations, manufacturing cost reduction, intensive advertising, and so on. Market followers are in a difficult position. They are usually the favourite target of market challengers. They can reduce prices, improve products or services' and so on, but the market leader and challenger will usually be able to retaliate successfully. A market follower that takes on a larger company in a price war is certain to lose, given its lesser resources. In many markets, market followers fall in the middle of a V-shaped curve relating market share and profitability. Small companies focusing on specialised narrow segments can make big profits. So can the market leader, with a high market share Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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and economies of scale. In between come the less profitable market followers, which are too big to focus on niches, but too small to benefit from economies of scale. One possibility for followers is to imitate the leaders’ products. The innovator has borne the cost of developing the new product, distributing it, and making the market aware of its existence. The follower can clone this product (copy it completely), depending on patents and so on, or improve, adapt or differentiate it. Whatever happens, followers have to keep their manufacturing costs low and the quality of their products and services high. Small companies that do not establish their own niche - a segment of a segment - are in a vulnerable position. If their product does not have a ‘unique selling proposition,’ there is no reason for anyone to buy it. Consequently, a good strategy is to concentrate on a niche that is large enough to be profitable and that is likely to grow, that doesn’t, seem to interest the leader, and which the firm can serve effectively. The niche could be a specialised product, a particular group of end-users, a geographical region, the top end of a market, and so on. Of course unless a nicher builds up immense-customer goodwill, it is vulnerable to an attack by the market leader or another larger company. Consequently, multiple niching — developing a position in two or more niches - is a much safer strategy. 2. Look through the text again and decide if the following statements are true or false. 1 If a market leader succeeds in increasing the size of the total market, its competitors benefit. 2 The size of a market can be increased without attracting any new consumers. 3 Market challengers generally attack the leader and market followers. 4 Market challengers cannot use the same strategies as leaders. 5 Market leaders generally win price wars. 6 Market challengers can attack leaders by way of any of the four P's of the marketing mix. 7 Market followers generally achieve cost reductions through economies of scale. 8 The most profitable companies are logically those with medium or high market share. 9 For a market nicher, product imitation can be as profitable as product innovation. 10 A market nicher is never safe from an attack by a larger company. 3. Choose any segment of the market. Complete the chart with companies or products (e.g. cars, soft drinks, jeans…) in your country which operate there. product
market leader
market challenger
market follower
market nicher
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Describe a general situation in this segment of the market (level of competition, competitors’ relationships, their marketing strategy, etc.). Use words and phrases from Vocabulary.
SPEAKING 1. Read essential theory about main competitors in the market and support it with the examples for each type of market structure. Discuss your examples in pairs and then present to the class. Market Structures Firms operating in markets face different types of market structure. We can look at three structures and find examples of each: monopoly duopoly oligopoly Monopoly In a market where a monopoly exists, there is no competition, as the firm is the market. This may be because the market is a natural monopoly, where there are significant savings to be had from having one company running the market. Network Rail, for example, are responsible for the maintenance and upgrading of the rail network of tracks, signals, bridges, stations and so on. A market structure where there is a single seller of a unique product no competition, as the firm = the market potential for abuse of monopoly position the market may be a natural monopoly – having competition among firms in this kind of market would be costly. Duopoly In a duopoly, the market is controlled by two dominant firms. An example of a duopoly is the global aircraft market, where the two dominant firms are Airbus and Boeing. Two large producers or sellers exactly two equally dominant firms seldom found tend to compete or collude. Oligopoly In oligopolies, which are the most common types of market, large firms are involved in selling either identical or very similar products. There are Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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significant barriers to entry into the industry. Where competition does happen, it is usually non-price competition. Markets dominated by a small number of large firms are the most common types of market. Large firms are involved in selling either identical or very similar products. Firms could face significant barriers to entry into the industry. (A helpful resource for further study of oligopolies is Oligopoly Watch). B. Answer the following questions: 1. It is believed that having competition among firms in natural monopolies is costly and may also jeopardise safety. Why is Network Rail thought to be less likely to have these problems than if there were a number of firms competing against each other? 2. Use the Colgate-Palmolive profile (www.oligopolywatch.com/2003/05/07.html) to find out more about the three major players in the personal and domestic care market. How do they differentiate themselves from each other? 3. Find the definition of a ‘new oligopoly’ at Oligopoly Watch. Why does this suggest that multinational companies aren't interested in becoming monopolies?
READING 1. Read the text and then decide which of the three summaries on the next page most fully and accurately expresses its main ideas.
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In two very influential books, Competitive Strategy (1980), and Competitive Advantage (1985), Michael Porter argued that growth and diversification alone do not guarantee a company long-term success. Instead, success comes from having a sustainable competitive advantage, which derives from the value a company creates, in excess of its production costs, and passes on to its customers. Size alone guarantees nothing: industry leadership is an effect of competitive advantage, not a cause. Contrary to popular belief, a company's optimum market share is rarely very large. Porter outlines five competitive forces at work in an industry: rivalry among existing firms, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes, and the bargaining power of both buyers and suppliers. Inter-firm rivalry affects prices, advertising and sales budgets, and so on. The threat of the entry of new competitors in an industry limits the prices a company can charge, and often results in expensive investment designed as a deterrent. The power of large buyers such as retail chains, and the possibility of consumers switching to cheaper substitute products, both limit prices. Powerful suppliers determine the cost of raw materials. Successful firms are the ones which sustain their competitive advantage by making sure they retain their value, and that it isn't lost to industry rivals, new entrants, or lower prices, or appropriated by powerful buyers or suppliers. Within these competitive constraints, Porter isolates three generic strategies that can give a company a competitive advantage: cost leadership (a cheaper product); differentiation (a better product than those of competitors); or focus on a narrow
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market segment. He criticizes buying companies rather than beating them, and diversification for its own sake, suggesting - like most other prominent business authors - that companies should rather look for strategic, synergy-producing links among business units in related industries. First Summary Michael Porter argues that success comes from growth, diversification, low production costs, and having a competitive advantage. Firms must protect this advantage against competitors, new entrants, and their customers. A competitive advantage can be the result of having a cheaper or better product than competitors, or diversifying into unrelated market segments. Second Summary Michael Porter argues that success comes from having a long-term competitive advantage in creating value and passing it on to customers. Firms must ensure that the value they create isn't eroded by competitors, or appropriated by buyers or suppliers. A competitive advantage can result from cost leadership, differentiation, or succeeding in a narrow market segment. Third Summary Michael Porter argues that success comes from competitive advantage and a small market share. Companies have to prevent competitors entering their industry, and ensure that competitors or customers do not reduce their profits. Success can come from having a cheaper or a better product, from focusing on a narrow market segment, or from diversification into new industries. 2. Match up the words below to make collocations from the text. 1. bargaining 2. business 3. competitive 4. cost 5. inter-firm 6. market 7. new 8. production a. advantage e. power
b. costs f. rivalry
c. entrants g. segment
d. leadership h. units
3. What are the verbs related to the following nouns and adjectives, all found in the text above? For example: advertising > advertise 1. competitive 2. constraints 3. consumers 4. deterrent 5. differentiation 6. diversification
......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
9. investment 10. leadership 11. optimum 12. production 13. success 14. suppliers
......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........
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7. entrants 8. influential
......... .........
15. sustainable 16. threat
......... .........
GAME ‘IN A SPIN’ A. Introduction This is a game designed to help you develop your understanding about how businesses compete with each other. The rules of the game are there to enable the game to progress smoothly but in terms of how you approach the game there are no rules providing you adhere to the laws of the land! There are a number of concepts that you should know to partake successfully in the game. The key ones are listed below: • You should know how to calculate profit: o Profit = Total Revenue (TR) - Total Cost (TC) o TR = Price (P) x Quantity sold (Q) o TC = Fixed Costs (FC) + Variable Costs (VC) • • • •
You should know and understand the elements of the marketing mix and how they can be used (You can think of 7Ps not just 4!) You should be aware of the external influences that affect business decision-making You should understand the difference between the aims of a business and the objectives of a business You should have a basic understanding of market structure and how this can influence the behaviour of a firm
B. Aim The aim of the game is simple. You must make decisions to try to achieve the following: • Increase sales • Increase your market share • Make a profit •
C. The Scenario Your team are the managing directors of a company producing washing powders for domestic washing machines. At present you are operating in the UK only. The size of the market in the UK is currently 200 million units a year - a unit being one pack of washing powder/tablets. Assume that each unit is currently 1.1kg. The market is currently growing at 2% each year and a year is represented as the end of the third round.
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The European market is worth an estimated €2.75 billion but is currently dominated by 3 very large firms who account for 90% of total sales. The European market is around 550 million units. D. The Game You will be given some initial information regarding your current market position. The first thing you will have to do is to calculate your total sales and your profit levels. You will then be given 7 minutes to consider your next move. You will have to explain your decision to the remainder of the groups at the end of these seven minutes. Your teacher/lecturer will note down the details for each firm. You will have to give a short explanation of the reasoning for your decision and what you hope to achieve from the decision. Your teacher/lecturer is the referee and the sole arbiter of what happens in the game. He/she will assess your decision and those of the rest of the groups and will explain what has happened to your market position as a result of your decision. You will then have to assess your situation and develop your next strategy. There will be a total of 9 rounds and the business with the highest points total will be deemed the winner. The points total will be calculated in relation to the amount of profit made, your market share and the level of your sales. When making your decisions, remember that some of them may take time before you see the benefits, you can if you wish make the decision to do nothing but you will need to be wary of what your rivals are doing! Cards for participants Your company research and development team have been analysing the product of company x. They have reported that repeated washes in the product increase the risk of the fabric being damaged. They have found that normal cotton items disintegrated after 20 washes and believe it is due to a synthetic enzyme developed by x. This could be competitive dynamite! The main trade union representing workers in the company is threatening industrial action following the announcement that the senior directors in the firm had received bonus payments for performance effectively increasing their existing salary by 2.5 times. The last pay deal for workers was just under the current rate of inflation. A one day protest is being organised which will cause disruption to production and increase costs. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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You are a highly geared company with a loan to share capital ratio of 65:35. The rise in house prices and strong retail spending figures have given rise to suggestions that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee are likely to begin a series of interest rate rises in the next few months. Your recent advertising campaign led to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) receiving 24 complaints about the inappropriate nature of the advert suggesting that it suggested that only women were likely to do the washing in the household and that this was inherently sexist and a misrepresentation of the complex role juggling that women have to play in modern society. The ASA has upheld the complaints and have asked you to withdraw the advert immediately. The news has been well publicised by the tabloid press. Template Company Name:
Round
Decision
Price AC
Sales
Market
Volume
Share
Profit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Project work: 1. Comment the following mind map: Development Evaluation Analysis
Goals Leadership
Strategic intents Futures thinking
Strategic planning
Logo
Mission statement Image
Corporate culture
Team work Vision Business strategy Core competences Core business
Type of strategy
Analysis PEST
Required input
SWOT
Restructuring
Global Competitive, Cost advantage New product development
Downsizing Evaluation Share price Profit
Productivity Earnings
2. Make a report The aim of this Activity is to investigate one business and to try to analyse its current position, as well as suggest some future strategic direction that the company could take. In following through the Activity, you should try to utilise the various methods at your disposal for carrying out the analysis - it could, for example, be a SWOT and PEST analysis or you could choose to analyse the company’s current mission statement and corporate culture. Alternatively, you could use Porter’s Five Forces analysis. Your report should try to identify what the main trends in the market seem to be and the ability of the company to respond to the potential opportunities that may arise in the future.
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There are a number of key businesses for which there should be plenty of information to help in your analysis. The following are merely suggestions and you can choose one of your own. • British Airways • Marks & Spencer • Royal Mail • Vodafone • Shell • Boots • WH Smith • MG Rover Each of the above has had their recent troubles and challenges and so would be interesting cases to study. Key issues to think about will be: 1. What is their current market position? 2. Who are their key target markets? 3. Who is their main competition? 4. What are the external factors that have impacted and will continue to impact on the business in the future? 5. What image have they managed to cultivate? (It may not be a good image!) 6. What key trends are going to affect the business in the coming years? 7. Will the business still be in existence in ten years time? If so, in what form? Related websites: • BBC business http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/ • The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk • The Financial Times http://news.ft.com/home/uk • The Economist http://www.economist.com • Ananova News http://www.ananova.com • Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/regions/uk.html
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PART 8 PRODUCT Kinds of product and production stages What kind of products do you prefer to purchase? What are the main criteria for your choice?
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Products A product can be: • something natural. • something made to be sold. • a service. Produce refers to agricultural products such as crops or fruit. For example, you can buy fresh produce at a farmers’ market Something that is made is produced or manufactured. A country or company that produces something is a producer of it. A company that manufactures something is a maker or manufacturer of manufactured goods. Mass production ‘I’m Steve and I’m head of car production at a manufacturing plant. ‘Plant’ sounds more modern than factory or works. On the assembly line we massproduce cars. The plant is highly automated: we use a lot of machinery. These machines are expensive to buy but very cost-effective - we don't have to pay them wages! We use industrial robots. These robots are part of the CADCAM system of computer-assisted design and manufacturing.’ ‘My name’s Luke. I have a little workshop where I produce furniture ordered by individual customers. We don’t use machinery: the furniture is hand-made. Producing furniture like this is a craft industry. It's very labour-intensive: it takes a lot of work to produce each piece. Many people dislike the furniture that big companies churn out in large numbers on their production lines, so we have a lot of customers.’ Capacity and output Output is the number or type of things that a plant, company, industry or country produces. Productivity is a measure of how much is produced in relation to the number of employees. High output per employee = high productivity. The maximum amount that a particular plant, company or industry can produce is its capacity. If it is producing this amount, it is working at full capacity. If it is producing more than what is needed, there is overproduction or:
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excess capacity overcapacity spare capacity surplus capacity These expressions can also be used in service industries. If far too many things are produced, there is a glut of these things. If not enough goods are being produced, there is a shortage. Innovation and Invention Verb
Noun (uncountable)
Noun (countable)
Noun (person)
design: to make plans or drawings for how something is to be made
design
a design
a designer
develop: to make a new idea successful, for example by making or improvinga product
development
a development
a developer
innovate: to think of new ideas, methods, products, etc.
innovation
an innovation
an innovator
invent: to design and make something for the first time
invention
an invention
an inventor
-
technology: the a technology practical or industrial use of scientific discoveries
a technologist
Research and technology Hi, I'm Ray and I'm head of product development at Lightning Technologies. Lightning makes semiconductors, the components at the heart of every computer. I'm in charge of research and development (R&D) at our research centre just outside Boston. Our laboratories are some of the most innovative in the computer industry, and we have made many new discoveries and breakthroughs. I love technology, using scientific knowledge for practical purposes. The technology of semiconductors is fascinating. We are at the cutting edge or leading edge of semiconductor technology: none of our competitors has better products than us. Everything we do is state-of-the-art, using the most advanced techniques available. Of course, the hi-tech products of today become the low-tech products of tomorrow. Products that are no longer up-to-date because they use old technology are obsolete. It's my job to make sure that Lightning's products never get into that situation. Patents and intellectual property Information or knowledge that belongs to an individual or company is proprietary. A product developed using such information may be protected in law by patents so that others cannot copy its design. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Other companies may pay to use the design under licence in their own products. These payments are royalties. In publishing, if a text, picture, etc. is copyright, it cannot be used by others without permission. Payments to the author from the publisher are royalties. The area of law relating to patents and copyright is intellectual property. Development and launch In software, developers often produce a final test version, the beta version, where users are asked to point out bugs (problems) before the software is finalized. Car designers use CADCAM (computer-assisted design / computer-assisted manufacturing) to help develop and make products and test different prototypes. Researchers in laboratories may take years to develop new drugs, testing or trialling them in trials to show not only that they are effective, but also that they are safe. Drugs need to be made on an industrial scale before they can be sold. Rollout is the process of making a product available, perhaps in particular places, to test reaction. Product launch is the moment when the product is officially made available for sale. This is the 'big moment'. If a design defect or design fault is found in a product after it has been launched, the company may have to recall it, asking those who have bought it to return it, perhaps so that the defect can be corrected. I 1. Complete this table with appropriate words. Verb
Noun (person/organization)
make
maker
Noun (process) X
Noun (thing) X
manufacturing produce: non-food
production
produce: food
production
2. Rearrange these lines to make a text containing words from Vocabulary above. 1 work. Of course, we still have a lot of assembly 2 plant producing TVs in Singapore. We have two production 3 My name's George Chen, and I'm director of a manufacturing 4 lines working 24 hours a day. We use CAD 5 line workers, so it's still quite labour6 intensive. But with the help of computer7 CAM, and robots do some assembly 8 assisted design and automation, productivity is increasing.
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3. Match the headlines (1-7) to the extracts they relate to (a-g). 1 FOOD SHORTAGES HIT EASTERN AFRICA 2 AIRLINE REPORTS BIG PRODUCTIVITY RISE 3 TOO MUCH BUILDING LEADS TO GLUT OF OFFICE SPACE 4 LOCAL PLANT AT FULL CAPACITY 5 FALL IN STUDENT NUMBERS EADS TO EDUCATION OVERCAPACITY 6 OIL OVERPRODUCTION LEADS TO PRICE FALL 7 NATIONAL OUTPUT AT ALL-TIME HIGH a ... Overall production in the country rose by five per cent last year ... b ... Rainfall has been below average in this part of Africa for the past five years. Not enough food has been grown ... с ... Too much oil has been produced recently in relation to world demand ... d ... There have never been so few people aged between 17 and 21 since 1950. The result: too many places at private colleges and universities ... e ... The plant’s capacity is 3,000 computers a week, and it’s producing 3,000 ... f ... Northern is running more flights with fewer pilots and staff. That was the message from Northern's CEO Frank Delaney to shareholders yesterday ... g ... There has been too much building in the city centre, and now there is a lot of office space standing empty ... 4. Choose the correct forms of the words to complete these sentences. 1 White came up with (a design/design) that combined lightness and warmth. 2 There’s an exhibition on architecture and (the design/design) at the Museum of Modern Art. 3 McGrew is vice president of (a development/development) and product planning. 4 The FDA has approved (a development/development) for treating tooth disease, a new laser machine. 5 Electric light was (an invention/invention) which enabled people to stay up later. 6 Sometimes (an invention/invention) is so obvious that it is hard to believe nobody thought of it before. 7 Channel Four has always encouraged experimentation and (an innovation / innovation) in its films. 8 He discovered (an innovation/innovation) that has enabled him to build guitars more efficiently. 5. Complete this presentation using appropriate words from Vocabulary . Put the words in brackets into their correct form.
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Hi, I’m Raj (1) ……… I’m head (2) ……… product (3 develop) ……… at (4)……… Indian Rice Research Centre. I’m in charge of research (5) ……… development (6) ……… our (7 researching) ……… centre in Delhi. Our (8 laboratory) ………. are (9) ……… of the most (10) ……… innovation (11) ……… agriculture. We have recently (12)……… some big (13) ……… breakthrough in increasing rice production. I love (14) ……… technological, using scientific knowledge (15) ……… improve people’s lives. (16) ……… technology (17)……… rice development (18) ……… a good example (19) ……… this. We are at the (20) ……… edge of rice-growing techniques. Everything we do (21) ……… state-of-the-art, using the most advanced biological (22 know) ……… available. 6. Match the expressions (1-6) with their meanings (a-f). 1 copyright infringement 2 intellectual property 3 patent application 4 proprietary information 5 royalty payment 6 licensing agreement a) a payment to the owner of a design, or to an author b) an arrangement between the owner of a design and someone else, allowing them to use the design for money с) when someone uses another's text, pictures, etc. without permission d) when an inventor asks the authorities to officially recognize an invention as his/her property e) designs, ideas, etc. that belong to someone f) the law relating to designs, ideas, etc. that belong to someone 7. Three people are talking about their work in product development. Correct the mistakes in italics. a) Market researches showed there was a real need for this service, but before offering it, we had to test it in a (b) beta copy with small groups of users over several months to eliminate all the bugs. Even so,(c) after lunch, some users said they could get into other people's accounts! b) The more you eat, the thinner you get, and (d) the focal groups said they liked the taste, but first we had to prove to the authorities that it was (e) secure. Another problem was making it on an (f) industrial level: at first we could only make it in small quantities in the laboratory, but making it in bigger quantities was impossible.
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c) At our research centre in Toulouse in France, the (g) designators develop the prototypes. People think that my job is dangerous, but there is so much (h) tasting on computer first, that all the danger has been eliminated by the time we use the product, (i) CADCAR means that the process of design and manufacture is much quicker than before. 8. Complete this talk by a marketing specialist. A few years ago a famous car company launched a new car, based on a completely new (1)……… .They’d done years of technical research and (2)……… research with focus (3)……… and (4)……… panels and analysis of responses to questionnaires and (5)……… . Then came the (6)……… . Sales of the car were very good until a Swedish newspaper reported the results of its ‘elk test’. They found that the car had a tendency to tip over if you turned quickly to avoid an elk. This was due to a (7)……… fault in the car, so they had to (8)……… all the cars they’d sold in order to correct it. II 1. Work in groups and make a list of features (both positive and negative) that a product could have.
negative features
positive features
2. Read the sentences bellow and decide which adjectives give opinions and which give facts? a) an unusual sporty briefcase with practical nylon straps and black trim b) an elegant light brown briefcase with brass locks c) a stylish leather briefcase with a beautiful glass handle d) a durable leather briefcase with brass locks e) an Italian black leather briefcase with a long shoulder strap opinion
facts
3. Put the words into the correct order. Try to formulate the rule that explains the order of adjectives, when we use more than one. leather
stylish
wide
bag
black
French
big
SPEAKING
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1. Work in groups. Choose a product you know well. Prepare a short presentation of it. Follow the plan below, and also give the customer profile. Name: Appearance: User-friendliness: Special features: Benefits:
The full name of the product is ……. It is ……… It is easy to set up – all you need is ……. The special features include ………, in addition …….. The main benefit of the product is ……..
V OC A B U L A R Y 2 1. Use the following terms to complete the definitions below: brand product product line product mix line-stretching line-filling product elimination convenience goods shopping goods speciality goods 1. A ……… is a name (or sometimes a sign, symbol or design) used to identity the goods or services of a particular manufacturer, seller or supplier, and to differentiate them from the goods or services of competitors. 2. A ……….. is defined by marketers as anything capable of satisfying a need or want (including services such as a bank loan, a haircut, a meal in a restaurant, or a skiing holiday). 3. A ………… is a group of closely related products, which usually have the same function and are sold to the same customer groups through the same outlets. 4. A ……….. is company.
the set of all the product lines and items offered by a
5…………. are cheap and simple "low involvement" products which people use regularly and buy frequently with little effort, without comparing alternatives. 6…………… are durable goods with unique characteristics that informed consumers have to go to a particular store to buy. 7…………….are ‘high involvement’ products for which consumers generally search for information, evaluate different models, and compare prices, and take time to make a selection. 8…………… is the process of withdrawing products from the market when they are no longer profitable. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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9……………. means adding further items in that part of a product range which a line already covers, in order to compete in competitors’ niches, to utilize excess production capacity, and so on. 10…………. means lengthening a company's product line, either moving upmarket or down-market in order to reach new customers, to enter growing or more profitable market segments, to react to competitors' initiatives, and so on. 2. Now translate the highlighted expressions in these definitions into your own language.
READING 1. a) What is ‘product life cycle’? What stages does it have? What happens with a product during each stage? b) Read the text and check your ideas. Product Life Cycles The sales of most products change over time, in a recognizable pattern which contains distinct periods or stages. The standard life cycle includes introduction, growth, maturity and decline stages. The introduction stage, following a product’s launch, generally involves slow growth. Only a few innovative people will buy it. There are probably no profits at this stage because of the heavy advertising, distribution and sales promotions expenses involved in introducing a product onto the market. Consumers must be made aware of the product’s existence and persuaded to buy it. Some producers will apply a market-skimming strategy, setting a high price in order to recover development costs. Others will employ a marketpenetration strategy, selling the product at as Low a price as possible in order to attain a large market share. There is always a trade-off between high current profit and high market share. During the growth period, ‘early adopters’ join the ‘innovators’ who were responsible for the first sales, so that sales rise quickly, producing profits. This generally enables the producer to benefit from economies of scale. Competitors will probably enter the market, usually making it necessary to reduce prices, but the competition will increase the market’s awareness and speed up the adoption process. When the majority of potential buyers have tried or accepted a product, the market is saturated, and the product reaches its maturity stage. Sales will stabilize at the replacement purchase rate, or will only increase if the
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population increases. The marketing manager has to turn consumers' brand preference into brand loyalty. Most products available at any given time are in the maturity stage of the life cycle. This stage may last many years, and contain many ups and downs due to the use of a succession of marketing strategies and tactics. Product managers can attempt to convert non-users, search for new markets and market segments to enter, or try to stimulate increased usage by existing users. Alternatively they can attempt to improve product quality and to add new features, sizes or models' or simply to introduce periodic stylistic modifications. They can also modify the other elements of the marketing mix, and cut prices' increase advertising, undertake aggressive sales promotions' seek new distribution channels' and so on, although here additional sales generally come at the cost of reduced profits. A product enters the decline period when it begins to be replaced by new ones, due to advances in technology, or to changes in fashions and tastes. When a product has clearly entered its decline stage, some manufacturers will abandon it in order to invest their resources in more profitable or innovative products. When some competitors choose to withdraw from a market those who remain will obviously gain a temporary increase in sales as customers switch to their product. Not all products have this typical life cycle. Some have an immediate rapid growth rather than a slow introductory stage. Others never achieve the desired sales, and go straight from introduction to maturity, although of course this should have been discovered during test marketing before a full-scale launch. Fads and gimmicks - for example, toys people buy once and once only to stick on car windows - have distinct life cycles, both rising and declining very quickly. 2. Read the text, and then decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). 1. The introduction stage of a new product is not usually profitable. 2. During the introduction stage, marketers are trying to create brand preference. 3. A producer seeking maximum profits will apply a market-penetration 4. The entry of competitors onto the market will make more consumer aware of the product and stimulate them to try it. 5. At the maturity stage, producers begin to benefit from scale. 6. The maturity stage is generally the longest. 7. Once the maturity stage is reached, marketers concentrate on finding new customers. 8. A product enters the decline stage when it begins to become obsolete. 9. A product can experience temporary sales increases during its decline stage. 10. Gimmicks and fads have a particularly long life cycle.
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Product innovations READING 1. Discuss these questions. Then read the article. 1 Do you think it is better to innovate or imitate products and services? 2 Can you name any companies which were a) innovators? b) imitators? Why the Last Shall Be First By John Kay
Have you heard of Berkey or Ampex? Gablinger or Chux? Perhaps you should have, because each occu-5 pies an important place in the history of product innovation. Berkey produced the first hand-held electronic calculators, Ampex the first video recorders. Gablinger developed low-alcohol lager and Chux sold the first disposable nappies. Or perhaps you should not, because none of these companies made a commercial success of their innovations. Today the calculators we use are probably made by Casio, our video recorder comes from Matsushita, our lowalcohol beer is Miller Lite, our nappies are made by Proctor & Gamble. In each of these markets the innovator was swept away. Xerox looks like an exception to this sorry catalogue. The company was first into the photocopier market and, even if its dominance was ultimately challenged by Canon, it remains a large and successful company today. But Xerox was also a pioneer in fax machines and personal computers. Each of these eventually proved to be a success, but not for Xerox Corporation. As we all know, it was Apple that developed the personal computer market. But Apple’s leadership quickly disappeared when IBM came on the scene. Apple then jumped ahead by introducing the graphical user interface. Its windows and mice brought personal computing within the reach of everyone. But it is Microsoft that does this now. The business world is not kind to pioneers. Even if you know how a market will develop, timing is a matter of luck or of quite exceptional skill. There are two closely related lessons. One is that being first is not often very important. The other is that innovation is rarely a source of competitive advantage on its own. Individuals and small companies can make a great deal of money out of good new ideas. The success of large established corporations – Matsushita, Philip Morris, IBM or General Electric is generally based on other things: their depth of technical expertise, their marketing skills. And time and again these characteristics enable them to develop the innovative concept far more effectively than the innovators themselves. This is not to say that there is no role in business for the great innovator. After all, General Electric was built on the extraordinary creativity of Thomas Edison’s mind, the Ford motor company on the abilities of its eponymous founder. The imagination of Walt Disney created a company that is still with Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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100 out parallel or rival. Perhaps Akio Morita of Sony occupies a similar place in the annals of modern business. From the Financial Times
2. Make notes about the first four paragraphs of the article. Use the following headings: Innovator Developer Product 3. Answer these questions about the article. 1 What is the main point made by the writer? 2 Several well-known companies are mentioned. What reasons are given for their success? 3 What is the connection between Disney, Ford, General Electric and Sony? 4 Look at the cartoon. What innovation does the word it refer to? 4. Use words from each box to make word partnerships from the article. For example, personal computers. commercial
skills
competitive
expertise
technical established
marketing
success advantage computers corporation
5. Read about the real inventions and innovations below. What is your opinion of each one? Give your reasons. 1 The laser shaver, by Frenchman Eugene Politzer, gets rid of stubble by burning rather than cutting. 2 The self-extinguishing cigarette, by Danish inventor Kaj Jensen, has a container of water buried near the filter tip. 3 The petless leash, invented by two scientists from Illinois, can mew or bark — depending on whether you want a non-existent cat or dog. 4 Glow-in-the-dark toothpaste was invented in America as a road safety aid. 5 Ice cubes that crackle louder according to the strength of your drink have been developed in Japan. 6 Economy Class passengers could be carried in pressurised containers in the holds of jets, says a Washington design firm. 7 Chocolate shock absorbers can reduce the effects of a vehicle travelling over bumpy surfaces because the chocolate becomes a gel when electrified, say Michigan scientists. 8 A collapsible coffin which can be carried on the bus has been designed by an inventor in Zimbabwe
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Quality control VOCABULARY 1. Use the words in the box to complete the flow chart.
identified durability
modified recalled
failed relaunched reliability tested launched
A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT We .........1 the product two years ago. We have a policy of zero defects so we were surprised when, shortly after the launch, we received complaints about the ………2 and ………3 of this product. Because of market feedback, we ……….4 the product so that any faults could be investigated. At the same time, we withdrew it from sale. After extensive tests, our engineers ………5 a fault. As a result, they were able to correct the fault and we ………6 the product. We ………7 the product under controlled conditions. Finally, we ………8 the redesigned product in the market. Unfortunately, it ………9 due to lack of consumer confidence caused by bad publicity. 2. Complete the sentences below with words and phrases from the box. consumer satisfaction questionnaire
compensation
monitoring
routine checks minimum standards
guarantee after-sales service
inspection faults
Quality control Quality control involves checking for _______ before selling goods. We are always ______ the quality of our products. The quality control department found several faults during one of their ______ . We use a number of ______ to measure quality. During the ______ a number of serious production flaws were found. Customer service We measure how happy our customers are with an annual ______ . We ensure that the machines are well-maintained by offering ______ . We provide our customers with a ______ lasting 10 years. If there is a faulty product, we usually offer customers ______ . 3. Think of a product or service that you have complained about. Tell your partner what the problem was and whether it was solved. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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READING 1. Before you read the article, answer these questions. 1 How can manufacturers guarantee product quality? 2 Which companies make the best domestic appliances (fridges, cookers, etc.)? 2. Read the article and match the headings to the correct paragraphs. a) Company strategy b) Focus on detailed testing c) High costs: increased reliability d) Industry admiration for top quality e) Innovation in working practices f) Looking to the future g) Loyalty for product that lasts Miele Focuses on Old-fashioned Quality By Pete Marsh
1 …………………. At a time when life has rarely been tougher for manufacturers in the developed world, Miele’s strategy for survival is to break almost all the rules. The German company, a global leader in high-quality domestic appliances such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners, is renowned for its high manufacturing standards and its refusal to move down-market and compete on price. 2 ………………… Miele bases nearly all its manufacturing in high-cost Germany and is selfsufficient to a high degree. Rather than outsource to low-cost suppliers, it makes 4 million electric motors a year (enough for all its products) in its own plant near Cologne. Keeping the manufacturing base in the company's own plant is, Miele believes, essential to maintaining its quality standards. Sales last year were €2.2billion (£1.5billion). 3 …………………. The approach is respected by Miele’s industry peers. Andrea Guerra, Chief Executive of Merloni, the Italian white goods maker, regards it as the icon of quality in the industry - 'with a fantastic position at the top end'. 4 ………………….. The company sells appliances ranging from dishwashers to coffee machines, at a price premium of up to 70 percent over their competitors’ products. It spends 12 percent of its revenue on product development - far more than the industry norm. Miele’s attention to detail is legendary. Ovens are tested using machines that open and shut their doors 60,000 times to simulate the use they will have in their owners’ kitchens. 5 ……………………
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The company also believes it can make its German plants more competitive by changes in working practices. According to Markus Miele, co-owner of the company, ‘We have a plant near Gutersloh that makes 65 percent of all the plastic parts we need. But we make this plant compete with outside contractors to see who gets the work for specific jobs. We make sure that the Miele plant charges prices no greater than the other bidders. This is one way we encourage our factories to make improvements and innovations in their production processes.’ 6 …………………… Even though Miele’s manufacturing costs are higher than those of its competitors, the company says these are justified by its ability to produce appliances that despite their high prices - people want to buy. Roughly 50 percent of Miele’s manufacturing costs come from components it makes itself compared with about 30 percent for equivalent companies. But the company says, most Miele appliances will work for 20 years, which is longer than comparable products. This, it says, is linked to the reliability of individual 100 parts. 7 …………………… The policy pays off, says Mr Miele. ‘My father [who was in overall charge of Miele until 2002 once had a letter from an old lady in Eastern Germany. She said she didn’t have much money but she was willing to pay 50 percent more for a no Miele washing machine because she knew it would last for the rest of her life.’ Nick Platt, a home appliance specialist at the GfK market research company, says such feelings are not uncommon. ‘The company has built up a tremendous loyalty among consumers who know that the brand stands for quality,’ he says. 8 ............................... Miele faces a tough few years as it strives not just to keep ahead of competitors at the top end of the white goods market but also to interest new generations of increasingly cost-conscious consumers in buying machines that - in terms of kitchens - are the equivalent of luxury Swiss watches. 3. Read the article again. Tick the factors below which have contributed to Miele’s success. It has excellent quality control in its factories. It changes its position in the market according to demand and fashions. Its prices are very competitive. It uses a lot of outside suppliers. It spends more money than other manufacturers on creating new products. It does a lot of testing. It focuses on every detail of production. Each component lasts a long time. 4. Match words or phrases from the article to these definitions. 1 the most important company of its type in the world (noun, paragraph 1) 2 measures of quality by which the processes of producing goods in factories are judged (noun, paragraph 1) Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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3 to sell products more cheaply (verb, paragraph 1) 4 providing all the things that are needed without help from outside (adjective, paragraph 2) 5 employing another company to do work for you (verb, paragraph 2) 6 a high price for something special (noun, paragraph 4) 5. Discuss these questions. 1 Can companies outsource and still maintain quality? 2 Can companies do everything in-house and remain competitive? 3 What methods or systems can companies use to maintain quality in: a) food production? b) hotels? c) airlines? d) banking?
ROLE-PLAY Quality is seen as being a very important factor in any business. It does not have to be a physical product for which quality is important: service industries are just as much concerned with quality, as are manufacturers. This Activity is based around a role-play exercise focusing on a car dealership. The firm and the personnel involved are all fictitious but the issues highlighted in the letter are real. The Scenario This is a role-play exercise in which you are the management team at a dealership of a prestigious car brand in the UK. You have received a letter from a customer highlighting a number of issues relating to one of the premium vehicles in the company's range. The letter is one example of a number of worrying comments received from not only customers but also the motor vehicle press about the quality of the PMV range. The dealership, however, faces a difficult series of decisions. It has failed to meet its sales targets for two years and is under pressure from the PMV head office to get results. If it does not meet its targets for next year, it risks losing the dealership. The senior management team have arranged a meeting at which they are seeking to discuss the problems facing the company. Read the short profile of each member. Your Task You must spend a short time preparing for the meeting at which the key problems will be discussed. The intention of the meeting is to formulate a plan to deal with the problems. The plan will be drafted out and discussed amongst the rest of the class. The Outcome
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The aim of the Activity is to recognise the issues surrounding a firm purporting to have quality at the heart of its activities. You will need to consider the views of all the members of the management team and to make a contribution to the formulation of a plan to begin to solve some of the problems highlighted. You will need to be mindful of the relationship between the dealership and the senior management of the manufacturers. Part of your task will be to decide on how significant the potential problems are that face the business. Once you have completed your plan, you should compare and contrast your proposals with those of other groups in the class. The focus of the discussion should be on the most appropriate strategy to raise the quality assurance policies of the company. The Personnel: James Blackwell - Managing Director of the dealership and Chair of the meeting. Mr Blackwell has been the MD for 8 years during which time the dealership has seen good and bad times. He has always professed to be totally committed to quality but is not always around to ensure that the business meets his standards. His excuse is that he pays others to ensure that what he wants is carried out! Mike Royston - Service Manager. He has tried hard to improve quality standards since his promotion to the post from another dealership in 2002. He sees problems in communication as being the key issue in customer relations. Michelle DuPre - Accounts Manager. An experienced management accountant with her fingers on the pulse of the business. She has recognised the impact on the costs of the business of the warranty work that is being done on vehicles and the fact that warranty work not only does not generate revenue but also prevents revenuegenerating work from taking place. Yvonne Wilson - Sales Director. Yvonne is getting concerned at the feedback from customers and the press at the image the company seems to be getting. She faces searching questions from prospective customers and is finding it increasingly difficult to persuade such sceptical customers of the commitment to quality that the firm has. In addition, she recognises that the firm's customers tend to be from the A and B list and as such tend to be informed and aware of the issues facing the firm. Douglas McAndrew - Promotions Manager. He sees the issues as being a small minority of people who have had unfortunate problems with their vehicles. His work in promotions involved him with the management at the Head Office of PMV cars and he is convinced of the quality of the product. He feels that the customers who have legitimate complaints have been 'unlucky' but are not representative of the client base as a whole. Letter of complaint Mr J. Blackwell Managing Director PMV Cars Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Premier Motor Vehicles UK plc Exeter EX15 9BC Re: PV450 series Registration Number: HY03 TMK Dear Mr. Blackwell, Some time ago you issued an urgent recall notice regarding the seat belt buckles of the PV450 series. As I am no longer the owner of the car, I was tempted to ignore the notice, save myself some time and wish the poor sod who bought the vehicle ‘good luck’. However, I feel that you and senior management at the manufacturing centre should be made aware why I disposed of the expensive motorcar. It most certainly was not because of some suspect seat buckles. In my opinion the PV450 range should have been recalled the moment they fell off the production line. Here follows an account of my 12 months PMV vehicles experience during which I covered a mere 2,100 miles. The fitted alarm, a disaster supreme: sirens and lights went off frequently when operating the remote control. I was told by your local experts that the security code was extremely long and sophisticated and it required pressing the button for at least one second. Horse-feathers: my present vehicle’s code is just as long, it can even dead-lock the doors and has not once produced a false alarm. The alarm also went off for no reason at all whilst driving down the High Street a rather embarrassing experience in a vehicle of such calibre. On another occasion, the interior lights illuminated during travel and without an obvious reason, though when reaching home and opening the driver’s door, all hell broke loose. I was unable to shut the alarm off, much to the amusement of the neighbourhood. Your local dealer, was called out on countless occasions and there will be a record of the vehicle’s history on file. Right from the first day the rear seat unit produced an irritating rattle. You tried over several days to find a remedy, but without much success, yet they still returned the vehicle to me. Since my local chemist did not run a special promotion on ear-plugs, I returned the car to you and was told that a new rear seat assembly would be required. Whether this was fitted or not, a week later the irritating noise was less obvious but still noticeable to an extent that would have made a Lada salesman blush. I made as little use of the vehicle as possible - the alarm was a bit of a deterrent - but I was slightly stumped when one day the battery failed to start the car. You did your bit again, I was given further expert opinion that the sophisticated electronics needed regular driving and 10 days rest was bad for the battery. I pointed out that I was not prepared to lug around a 10 kg battery every time I left the car at an airport for the duration of a short business trip. My fears of having to charge up the battery in foreign hotel rooms were unfounded, the battery was found to have two faulty cells. A replacement rectified the not too small inconvenience. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Occasionally it rains in the United Kingdom. Imagine my surprise when one day I opened the passenger door and found ½ centimetre of water on the floor sill. The same water level could be found in the off-side rear compartment and further back into the load area. This amazing discovery was followed by another invigorating week for the vehicle at your service area. Just as well I have two reliable cars by different manufacturers at my disposal. By this time, and I trust you will not be offended by the thought, I had decided to sell the car. Three expensive adverts in the Sunday Times resulted in only one luke-warm enquiry and no sale, though, out of the blue a local person showed some interest in the pile of junk. Desperate to make a sale, I washed the car and even brushed out the immaculate interior. That was when I found a piece of plastic on the driver's floor. I picked it up and viewed it in amazement: it was the most crudely crafted piece of plastic I have ever come across - an accelerator pedal. Even found the plastic (yes, plastic!!) coupling to fix the pedal to the metal - now here is a reason for recall if you ever needed one! How about a bit of offroading in Sloane Square (London, U.K.) with the pedal falling off? By the way, the local interest in the vehicle ended in no sale. The American style handbrake or ‘parking brake’ indicates clearly that nobody had ever envisaged the PV450 to be used off-road with perhaps the exception of a Tesco’s mother-and-child-only parking bay. I certainly would be unhappy to have to make use of such a contraption on the snow-covered roads of the Italian Dolomites. The leather seats were designed for Sudanese brass monkeys or Americans. They gave no hold and were by far the most uncomfortable seats I have experienced outside the cathedral of the Holy Virgin in Galway (Republic of Ireland). There is also the extreme use of cheap plastic in a vehicle of such a renowned past: the little handle which opens the bonnet will most likely not last for the third oil-change, the pitiful rear ashtrays (though I do not smoke) would never meet the stringent quality requirements of a give-away in a cornflakes box, the cupholders were surely designed by a brainless imbecile. In a last attempt to impress my clients with my car and in order to curtail my losses to a minimum, I contacted your sales director, Mrs Yvonne Wilson and checked out the latest PV450 series which by now had been improved and built by Austrians. Mrs. Wilson was fully aware of the history of my vehicle and expressed her sympathy with words to the effect ‘the quality one expects of owning a PMV’ and that she would contact me. That was during December 2003. Last words of wisdom! My patience came to an end and I have since bought another vehicle from a different manufacturer, the eighth in my ownership and a vehicle, which gives me the confidence to attempt to leave the periphery of Exeter. Though I miss the Bose hi-fi unit of the PV450... I thought you might be interested in my humble opinion of the pile of junk which has lost me more than £ 10,000 in such a short time of ownership and just Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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over 2,100 miles. It is my hope that somebody at Mercedes PMV will remember how the word ‘quality’ was spelled just a few years ago. It might also be prudent to clarify the expression ‘ff-road’ to your customers as in the case of the PV450 it is more likely to entail the hospitality and bad coffee at one of your many dealerships. Yours sincerely, Edmund Nägele, FRPS Edmund Nägele is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (Amended letter reproduced by kind permission of Edmund Nägele, http://www.nagele.co.uk/ml320)
Branding 1. Discuss the following questions. 1. What is ‘brand’? 2. Do you have any branded products? Do these products have anything in common? 3. How loyal are you to the brands you have chosen? 4. If you don’t buy branded goods, explain why. 5. Summerise the main features of brands? VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT Word combinations with ‘product’ catalogue mix portfolio line range
product lifecycle
positioning
placement
a company’s products, as a group
a company’s product of a particular type the stages in the life of a product, and the number of people who buy it at each stage how a company would like a product to be seen in relation to its other products, or to competing products when a company pays for its products to be seen in films and TV programmes
Goods Goods can refer to the materials and components used to make products, or the products that are made. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Here are some examples of these different types of goods. Consumer goods that last a long time, such as cars and wishing machines, are consumer durables. Consumer goods such as food products that sell quickly are fast-moving consumer goods, or FNCG. Brands and branding A brand is a company gives to its products so they can be recognized. This may be the name of the company itself: the make of the product. For products like cars, you refer to the make and model, the particular type of car, for example, the Ford (make) Ka (model). Brand awareness or brand recognition is how much people recognize a brand. The ideas people have about a brand it its brand image. Many companies have a brand manager. Branding is creating brands and keeping them in costumer’s minds through advertising, packaging, etc. A brand should have a clear brand identity so that people think of it in a particular way in relation to other brands. A product with the retailer’s own name on it is an own-brand product (BrE) or own-label product (AmE). Products that are not branded, those do not have a brand name, are generic products or generics. 1. Match the sentence beginnings (1-7) with the correct endings (a-g). The sentences all contain expressions from A opposite. 1 Banks are adding new types of accounts 2 Apple is going to simplify its product line 3 Consumers have mixed feelings about supermarkets 4 When BMW bought Rover, 5 The new law will ban product placement 6 Following the launch of the Series 5 laptop, consumers were slow to understand 7 With this type of equipment in the US, a product life cycles are so short that product launches are very frequent. b its product positioning in relation to Psion’s existing hardware products. c it change its product range towards more expensive cars. d of cigarettes in movies. e extending their product portfolio into financial services. f and deliver fever but more competitive models. g to their product mix. 2. Complete this marketer’s description of his work using expressions from Vocabulary.
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My name’s Tomas. I’m Portuguese, and I’ve been (1)……… ……… for Woof dog food for the whole of Portugal and Spain since I left business school last summer. The Woof ……… is owned by a big international group. The market for pet food in Portugal and Spine is growing very fast, as more and more people own dogs and cats, and we’re trying to increase (3) ……… ……… of Woof through TV advertisements and hoardings in the street. Research shows that people have very positive ideas about it: it has a very positive (4) ……… ……… . But the supermarkets have their (5) ……… ……… dog food, usually sold cheaper than our product, which is a problem. There are even (6) ……… ……… sold just under the name ‘dog food’. We have to persuade people that it’s worth paying a bit more for a (7) ……… product like Woof, which is far better, of course. 3. a) Look at the eight partnerships with the word brand. Match them to the definitions below. luxury classic
BRAND image
manager
awarenesswith expensive, stretching leader 1 A brand associated high qualityloyalty products 2 The person responsible for planning and managing a branded product 3 The brand with the largest market share 4 A famous brand with a long history 5 The ideas and beliefs which consumers have about a brand 6 The tendency of a customer to continue buying a particular product 7 Using a successful brand name to launch a product in a new category 8 The knowledge which consumers have of a brand b) Complete the sentences with word partnerships from ex. a). 1 Lives, which has been established for over a 100 years and is world-famous, is a ……… . 2 The aim of the advertising campaign is to increase ……… so that consumers become more familiar with our coffee product. 3 Volvo’s ……… is that of a well-engineered, upmarket, safe car. 4 Suchard is a ……… of Swiss chocolate. c) Make four sentences of your own using the remaining word partnerships.
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4. a) Choose two letters from the alphabet. Write one letter in each of the boxes below. You have five minutes to think of as many famous brands beginning with those letters. b) Choose a brand from the list. Answer the following questions: • What is the brand name? • Is it a power brand? • What do you think is the brand essence? • What is your image of the brand? • Can you describe the brand parity and its positioning? • Can you say how the brand creates and maintains loyalty?
READING 1. Match each company to the corresponding business sector. Amazon Mercedes UPS Novartis
Microsoft BMW Honda Coca Cola
automotive pharmaceuticals computer software consumer electronics
Zara Samsung HSBC Luis Vuitton
transportation telecoms equipment finance service Internet services
Toyota Google Reuters Nokia clothing media luxury beverages
2. Guess the names of the following companies, using the list in ex. 1. Check your answers in the article. (a) the world’s top brand: …….. (b) highest non-US company: …… (c) highest German company: ……
(d) highest Japanese company: ………… (e) highest UK company: ……………… Listing by: Interbrand / July 2005
World’s Top 100 brands Some companies’ logos and images are internationally famous. The latest ranking, by Interbrand, lists the 100 most valuable global brands. None is stronger than Coca Cola, named the world’s top brand for the fourth year in a row, beating Microsoft into second place. Over half the Top 100 are US firms – Finland’s Nokia at number 6 is the highest position by a non-US company. Clear trends include Asia’s power as a car manufacturer, with Toyota entering the Top 10 at number 9, the highest Japanese company in the list, while Mercedes is the highest position from a German company. New entries include UPS, Google, Novartis and Zara, the Spanish fashion chain. The highest UK position is the HSBC at number 79.
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There is no Visa or Wal-Mart in the list – the criteria for qualifying are tough. Brands must be worth at least $2.1 billion dollars, and most importantly, one third of the company’s income must come from outside its own domestic market. The fastest rising company on the list is South Korea’s Samsung in 19th position, which has recently focused on quality, design and innovation. Traditional advertising is changing. In the past, global fame was largely due to billboards and the 30 second commercial. Product endorsement is still a powerful tool – with actress Uma Thurman promoting Luis Vuitton. Increasingly, advertising is integrated into entertainment, such as BMW’s series of short Internet videos. The Internet is playing a key role in helping companies like Google and Amazon reach a global market, without relying on traditional advertising methods. With international competition as fierce as ever, companies will have to keep coming up with ways to keep their brand a focus of consumer attention.
2. Read the whole article. How is brand advertising changing? 3. Discuss the following questions in small groups. Report your ideas to the class. a) You are going to buy one of the following products. How important is it to buy a well-known brand? trainers / a mobile phone / a car / a computer b) Would you buy a product because it is endorsed by someone famous? If so, give an example. c) Have you ever been persuaded to buy a product because of an advertisement? If so, describe the advert. d) In order to achieve international brand awareness, which is the most effective form of advertising?
READING 2 1. Select the appropriate expressions to complete the text: Branding In a market containing several similar competing products, producers can augment their basic product with additional services and benefits such as customer advice, delivery, credit facilities, a warranty or guarantee, maintenance, after-sales service, and so on, (1) ……… distinguish it from competitors’ offers. Most producers also differentiate their products by branding them. Some manufacturers, such as Yamaha, Microsoft, and Colgate, use their name (the ‘family name’) for all their products. Others market various products under individual brand names, (2) ……… many customers are unaware of the name of Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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the manufacturing company, (3) ………, Unilever and Proctor & Gamble, the major producers of soap powders, famously have a multi-brand strategy which allows them to compete in various market segments, and to fill shelf space in shops, (4) ……… leaving less room for competitors. (5) ……... also gives them a greater chance of getting some of the custom of brand-switchers. (6) ……… famous manufacturers’ brands, there are also wholesalers’ and retailers’ brands. (7) ………, most large supermarket chains now offer their ‘ownlabel’ brands, many of which are made by one of the better-known manufacturers. Brand names should (8) ……… be easy to recognize and remember. They should also be easy to pronounce and, especially for international brands, should not mean something embarrassing in a foreign language! (9) ……… a name and a logo, many brands also have easily recognizable packaging. Of course packaging should also be functional: (10) ……… the container or wrapper should protect the product inside, be informative, convenient to open, inexpensive to produce, and ecological (preferably biodegradable). a. as a result of 1. a. although 2. a. Consequently 3. a for example 4. a. There 5. a. As a result of 6. a. For example 7. a. i.e. 8. a. As well as 9. a. Although
b. in order to b. since b. Despite b. however b. That b. In addition to b. Furthermore b. of course b. Despite b. in other words
c. thus c. so that c. For instance c. thus c. This c. Owing to c. However c. therefore c. So as to c. on account of
2. Complete the following collocations 1. to augment ……... 2. ………. . facilities 3. after-sales ……….. 4. multi-brand …………. 5. to fill………… 6. ………… chains 3. Discuss in pairs. What are the advantages of branded goods for: a) the manufacturer b) the consumer? Project work: Study the case. Of Italian origin, Silvana emigrated to England from Lugano, Switzerland, with her family when she was ten years old. Later, she married Pierre, who was also Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Swiss, and worked in his designer clothing business in London. In 1980, they moved to Oxford and opened a French-style restaurant. The restaurant was very successful, but Silvana found it difficult to get high quality after-dinner chocolates in England. So she was so disappointed about this that she decided to return to Lugano and learn how to make them herself. A friend of hers owned a large chocolate factory there, and happily showed her how chocolates were manufactured. Back in England, she started producing hand-made chocolates for her restaurant clientele and friends. She used top-quality ingredients, and the chocolates were greatly praised by all who tasted them. The idea of establishing a hand-made confectionary business came almost by chance. One day, on an impulsive, they contacted a famous chain of quality food stores based in London. The firm’s chief buyer expressed interest in their products, and the following week they went to London with their samples. To their astonishment, they left the buyer’s office with an order for 30 kilos! Seeing a potential in Selvana’s ‘hobby’, the couple sold their restaurant and used the proceeds to set up Silvana Chocolates. Within a year, they were unable to cope with the demand and had to take on additional labour. Five years later, Silvana Chocolates was a flourishing business to be much bigger. They would also like to expand into Europe as soon as possible. To do so successfully, they know they must create a stronger brand image – the chocolates don’t really have a ‘personality’ at the moment – and devise a marketing plan to increase brand awareness – their products are still not widely known by the general public. To discuss suitable ways of improving brand image and increasing consumer awareness, Pierre and Silvana have set up a meeting with a small advertising agency in London. Work in groups. You are the members of the advertising agency. You need to work out an advertising campaign for Silvana chocolates. Think about stronger brand image. Think how to increase consumer awareness in order to expand into Europe. Try to come up with ideas for new packaging (people say it’s dull). Create an attractive logo and catchy slogans for any advertising you decide to do. Think about different ways of special promotions.
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PART 9 PRICE AND PRICING 1. Explain the difference between ‘price’ and ‘pricing’? 2. Work in groups and make the list of words which can collocate with the word ‘price’ or refer to this notion somehow.
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Pricing A: Our goods are low-priced. Permanently low pricing means we charge low prices all the time. B: You mean cheap: your goods are poor quality. Our goods are high-priced, but we give customer service. And a lot of our goods are mid-priced: not cheap and not expensive. A: Your goods are expensive. Customers don’t need service. B: You must be selling some goods at cost (what you pay for them) or at a loss (even less). A: Yes. We have loss leaders - cheap items to attract customers in. But it's all below the ‘official’ list price or recommended retail price. We have a policy of discounting, selling at a discount to the list price. ‘If they go on undercutting us, we can’t stay in business,’ A thought. Word combinations with ‘price’
price
boom controls cut hike war leader tag
a good period for sellers, when prices are rising quickly government efforts to limit price increases a reduction in price an increase in price when competing companies reduce prices in response to each other a company that is first to reduce or increase prices label attached to goods, showing the price; also means ‘price’
Upmarket and downmarket Products, for example skis, exist in different models. Some are basic, some more sophisticated. The cheapest skis are low-end or bottom-end. The most expensive ones are high-end or top-end products, designed for experienced users (or people with a lot of money!). The cheapest entry-level skis are for beginners who have never bought skis before. Those in between are mid-range. If you buy sophisticated skis to replace basic ones, you trade up and move upmarket. If you buy cheaper skis after buying more expensive ones, you trade down and move downmarket. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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BrE: upmarket, downmarket Downmarket can show disapproval. AmE: upscale, downscale If a publisher takes a newspaper downmarket, they make it more popular; but less cultural, to increase sales. Mass markets and niches Mass market describes goods that sell in large quantities and the people who buy them. For example, family cars are a mass market product. A niche or niche market is a small group of buyers with special needs, which may be profitable to sell to. For example, sports cars are a niche in the car industry. 1. Look at the price list. Are the statements below true or false? 1 The pricing policy is to sell below list prices. 2 The Adagio is low-priced, and is cheaper than the competition. 3 The mid-priced models are the Brio and the Capricioso. 4 The retailer charges 16,908 euros for the Delicioso. 5 The Delicioso is the highest-priced model. 6 The Delicioso is cheaper than the competition. 7 All models are sold at discount. Model
List price
Our price
Competing product
Adagio
11,541
9,999
10,500
Brio
13,349
12,999
12,896
Capricioso
15,742
14,999
13,987
Delicioso
16,908
15,999
14,442
2. Complete the sentences with the appropriate form of words from vocabulary. 1 A price .......... by Mills may indicate the start of price increases by other producers. 2 Britain's house price .. …… has gone beyond London, with properties in Kent now worth 25 per cent more than a year ago. 3 Consumers will get price ……… of eight per cent off phone bills from May. 4 When President Perez ended price ………, electricity, phone and transport costs went up. 5 Petron is a price ..…….; it's usually the first to offer lower prices. 6 The project had many design problems, pushing up the price ……… for each helicopter from $11 million to $26 million. 7 There is a price …….. between Easyjet and KLM on the London to Amsterdam route.
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3. Correct the mistakes in italics, using expressions from vocabulary. I'm Denise van Beek, from sailing boat company Nordsee Marine. We have something for everyone. If you've never sailed before, try our (1) mid-range model, the Classic. It's six metres long and very easy to sail. After a year or two, many customers (2) trade down or (3) take upmarket to something more (4) basic, like the (5) entry-level nine-metre Turbosail, with more equipment and a bit more luxury. Our (6) bottom end product is the Fantasy. It's 15 metres long and has everything you need for comfort on long voyages. We also produce the Retro, a traditional boat. There's a small but profitable (7) mass market for this type of boat. 4. Match the words to their definitions. discount
selling of products in a foreign market at less than what it costs to make them
price cuts
the market where low-priced products are sold
dumping
the cheapest model of a company’s product range designed for people buying for the first time
downmarket
the market that deals with non-luxury goods which are sold in large quantities
upmarket
a specific area of a market
entry-level product
the market which refers to expensive products
mass market
the cheapest model of a company’s product line
bottom-end product
the reduction of price
niche
the offer of a lower price
5. Work in groups. Choose three companies which operate in one and the same market segment. Compare their prices and present your analysis to the class.
READING 1. a) Working in pairs, think about factors that influence the price. Make up a list of them. b) Read the text and compare your ideas with the factors listed there. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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c) Complete the text using these words: Pricing competitive market share sensitive
components monopolist substitute
market leader overheads target
market segments plant volumes
The price of a product should logically cover its production and distribution costs, including a proportion of the company's fixed costs or (1)……… such as rent and interest payments, and leave a small profit. But prices are also influenced by the level of demand, the prices of (2)……… products and the prices charged by competitors. High quality products made with expensive (3)……… and requiring a lot of craftsmanship are obviously expensive. They also generally require ‘prestige pricing’ as the consumers in their (4)……… market would not buy them if they thought the price was too low. The markets for most other goods are generally price (5)………, i.e. the lower the price, the greater the sales. But for new products for which there is a sufficiently high demand, companies may choose to set the highest possible price so as to maximize profits. This is known as market-skimming. The price can later be reduced in order to reach further (6)……... . The opposite strategy is market-penetration, which means setting as low a price as possible so as to increase sales volume and (7)……… leading to lower unit production and distribution costs and higher long-run profit. The low price will also discourage competitors. Companies with overcapacity, intensive competition, a large inventory, or a declining market are likely to cut the prices of established products. They are more concerned with keeping the (8)……… going and staying in business than making a current profit. On the contrary, firms facing rising costs, or in need of cash in the short term, tend to raise prices. A company faced with demand that exceeds supply is also likely to raise its prices, like a (9) .……… . Firms in perfectly (10) ......... markets, or homogeneous-product markets, or small firms in an industry with a strong (11)………, are likely to use going-rate pricing, i.e., they will charge more or less the same price as everyone else, rather than set a price based on estimates of costs or projected demand. But of course, all prices can be adapted. Most companies offer cash discounts to customers who pay immediately, and quantity discounts to buyers of large (12)......... . Many products and services are sold at a lower price during an offseason. Retailers often offer some loss-leader prices: they cut the prices of selected products to cost price or below in order to attract customers who also buy other goods. Companies are also often obliged to react to price changes by competitors. They might try to avoid a price war by modifying other elements of the marketing mix. Similarly, they have to anticipate competitors’ reactions if they change their own prices. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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2. Answer the questions. 1. What are ‘overheads’? 2. What is ‘market-skimming’ and ‘market-penetration’? What results could these activities lead? 3. Is it possible for a company to reduce their prices? Why? 4. When does a company usually increase the prices? 5. In which case can a company charge its own without paying attention to going-rate pricing? 6. What is ‘price war’? How is it possible to avoid such war? Can you tell about any cases of price war that you’ve heard?
V OC A B U L A R Y 2 I a) ‘Market-skimming’ and ‘market-penetration’ are not the only pricing strategies used by companies. Read about other strategies. Premium pricing: Use a high price when there is a substantial competitive advantage – for example, rooms in Savoy hotels. Penetration pricing: The price charged for products and services is set artificially low in order to gain market share. Once this is achieved, the price is increased. Economy pricing: Marketing and manufacturing costs are kept to a minimum. Supermarkets often have economy brands for soups, spaghetti, etc. Price skimming: Charge a high price because you have a new product type. However, the high price attracts new competitors into the market, and the price falls due to increased supply. DVD players were launched with this strategy. Psychological pricing: The consumer responds on an emotional, rather than rational, basis. For example, charging 99 cents instead of 1 dollar. Captive product pricing: Companies will charge a premium price where the consumer cannot choose a competitive product. Product bundle pricing: Sellers combine several products in the same package. This also serves to move old stock. Videos and CDs are often sold using bundle approach. b) Read the descriptions and name the pricing strategies that are being used. 1 charging a high amount for bottles of water inside a football stadium during the World Cup 2 charging $2.95 instead of $3 3 charging a low price to win sales in a new market Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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4 packaging shampoo, conditioner and hair gel from the same hair care product line together, and charging one price for the lot
II a) Pricing considerations The marketing team for Stick Tea are preparing for a meeting about the price of a new range of tea that comes in a stick instead of a bag. They make notes on pricing considerations.
* Alternative solutions: our stick packaging is unique * Ease of comparison: easy to compare price but difficult to compare tastes * Unique benefits/Unique Selling Points (USPs): quality of tea; stick format * Monetary significance: tea is cheap, but the innovative packaging has a high value * Demand: tea consumption is stable, but sales in speciality shops are on the rise * Price sensitivity: consumers are very price sensitive – sales decrease when prices increase * Complementary costs: none – the customer doesn’t even need a spoon!!
b) Match the questions about pricing strategy (1-7) to the pricing considerations (a-g). 1 What is value of the product or service for the consumer? 2 What is special or different about the product or service? 3 Is it difficult to compare the price and quality of similar products or services? 4 How many people want to buy the product or service? 5 How many similar products or services are there on the market? 6 What else does the consumer need to for in order to use the product or service? 7 How much does a change in price affect consumer demand for the product or service? a alternative solutions b ease of comparison c unique benefits Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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d monetary significance e demand f price sensitivity g complementary costs III The price test a) Stick Tea decide to carry out a price test for their range of tea. They want to know what customers think is a fair price for a box of 50 sticks. They are also interested in comparing different possible retail price points (€12, €14 and €16), to find out what customers consider to be the full price and the bargain price for a box of 250 sticks. b) Complete the text using words from the box. bargain costs
fair premium significance unique points sensitive solutions
When deciding on the price of a product or service you have to consider the product or service itself. For example, does it have (1) ……… benefits? Does the consumer have any alternative (2) ………? What is the monetary (3) ……… of the product or service? You also have to think about the possibility of complementary (4) ………, and how price (5) ……… the consumers are to these and the product or the service cost. Then you need to think about the pricing strategy and how this relates to the brand. For a luxury brand it is essential to follow a (6) ……… pricing strategy in order to maintain the brand image. A no-frills low price would not be suitable for a brand such as Cartier. Finally, you need to carry out a price test to check the price (7) ……… you are considering. The (8) ……… price is the amount that the consumer is prepared to pay for the product or service. A (9) ……… price is a low price that may be used during special offers or for promotional pricing. IV a)What do you think about dumping? Is this tactics approved? What could be the results of such operating in the market? b) Read the article from Financial Times and re-arrange the sections into a logical order. (The first paragraph is A and the last is H.) EU STEEL DUMPING CLAIM a European Union steelmakers are to file an anti-dumping complaint, b raising their share in Germany from an average 5 per cent in the first nine months of 1993 to more than 18 per cent in the final quarter.
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c and had captured 27 per cent of total German sales by the final quarter, the Dusseldorf-based federal steel association said yesterday. d Czech suppliers had been particularly aggressive, it added, e alleging Czech and Hungarian structural steel suppliers have under-cut EU prices by up to 50 per cent. f The complaint regarding structural steel, widely used in construction, g The east Europeans increased their EU market share almost threefold to 9 per cent last year, h will be posted later this week by the EU’s Eurofer industry group, which will claim unfair tactics are costing western steel companies DM320 million a year. V a)What do you know about ‘product cannibalization’? When could it happen? b) Complete this article from Economist with the words listed. One of the words is used three times. Cannibalising up or down? consumer consumers
cannibalising cannibalisation
image sales
ads share
…Even before Sensor reached the shops, Gillette and its agencies had stirred up uncommon interest in something that men think about for two minutes a day. ‘Teaser’ (1) ______ appeared during America’s Superbowl and all TV channels at once in each European market. … At $3.75, the razors were cheaper than many non-disposables, so few (2) ______ would be put off, but expensive enough, compared with disposables, to maintain a prestige (3) ______ . Big profits would come from the blades; at 75 per cent each, they commanded a gross margin of nearly 90%. Sensor blades and razors accounted for $200 million of Gillette’s $1.6 billion shaving (4) ______ in 1990. By years end it was nearly profitable, a remarkable feat for any new (5) ______ product. Of course, Sensor ate onto the market shares of Gillette’s other razors. ‘When you have 65% of the market, (6) ______ is inevitable, says Mr Hoffman. ‘The question is, are you (7) _____ up or down?’ Of Sensor’s 1990 (8) ______, 64% came from former users of other nondisposable shavers (52% from Gillette, 11% from competitors), and 29% from disposables: half from each. More encouraging, (9) _______ of disposables in
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Europe and America were flat. That trend continued in 1991, as Sensor’s (10) ______ of the blade market doubled, to around 15%, in both places. Project work: Choose any company which activity is interesting to you. Find information about their price policy. Has it been changed whenever? What strategies do they use? What sort of products do they produce? And what prices do they charge for the products?
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1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5
2. Think about advantages and disadvantages of these 3 groups of distribution.
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Logistics and the distribution chain Logistics is the management of the transport and storage of goods. Marcus Bridgestone, the logistics manager for a plastic packaging company, is talking to a new assistant about the distribution chain. Marcus:
After completion, items get sent from the factory to the warehouse. We store them there until we are ready to ship, or deliver, to the client. I say ‘ship’ but we don't always use a boat to do it. The cheapest, but slowest, shipping method is by container ship, but it takes around five weeks to sail from Asia to Europe. Sometimes we need to move the shipments or freight much faster, so we use air freight. However, it’ much more expensive, although it depends on the weight of the load – the goods being carried. When the shipment gets to Europe we have a number of shipping options, which really depend on where the goods land - I mean, where they arrive - and where we have to deliver them. Rail freight is cheap but not always reliable, depending on the country. Road haulage is more expensive but the advantage is that lorries can go right up to the doors of shops
or factories.
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Assistant: What about the man from the delivery service? Marcus: George, from Fedex? We try only to use delivery services when we need to send something small, or very urgently. Direct distribution This extract describes how Dell, the computer manufacturer, distributes its products: Michael Dell started Dell Computers in 1984 with only $1,000. Dell has grown to be a company with average daily earnings of $40 million. How did he do it? A new concept: eliminate the middlemen and sell directly to the consumer. Dell has been able to maintain complete control over stock levels - that is, how much stock it holds at any one time - as well as distribution costs. Dell figured out a new way to sell computers to the consumer, which was through direct distribution. Dell was able to gain a competitive advantage for several reasons: • First of all, direct distribution allows Dell to eliminate wholesalers, who buy and sell goods in large amounts to shops and businesses. This is an advantage because Dell does not have to deal with wholesalers or spend time keeping track of inventory in the wholesalers' warehouses - that is, monitoring what the wholesaler has in stock. • Secondly, Dell has eliminated retailers - the people, shops or businesses that sell to the public. This is effective because Dell does not have to receive customer orders from thousands of different retailers. It can take orders directly from the customer. Note: stock or inventory? In Britain and American English, inventory refers to the complete list of goods in stock. Franchise – franchisee buys the right to sell a company’s products in a particular area using the company’s name. McDonald’s is a good example of a franchise.
Indirect distribution Unlike Dell, most manufacturers or service providers use an indirect distribution channel to connect the product and the consumer, where some kind of distributor or distribution intermediary is used. 1. Put the steps in the distribution chain in the correct order. 1 The goods arrive and can be sold to the consumer. 2 The franchise sends the order to the warehouse in South America. 3 Road haulage is used to ship the goods from Southampton to Brighton. 4 The goods land in Southampton. 5 The container ship is loaded with the parts. 6 A franchisee in Brighton places an order for car accessories.
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2. Find six words from vocabulary that can be used to make word combinations with distribution. Then use some of the combinations to complete the cost controller's report.
_______ _______
distribution _________ _________ _________ _________
(1) ……… were very high last year so this year we have advised all project managers to use air freight as little as possible. Another possible source of high costs has been the length of the (2) ……… for our product. Although we have been trying to develop (3) ……… by attracting more customers to our website and encouraging them to order from us, most of our products get to market through an (4) ……… channel. We have been seeking ways to cut down the number of wholesalers and other types of (5) ……… . We are beginning to deal directly with retailers and in the long run this will reduce our costs. Wholesalers, retailers and customers
Wholesalers
Retailers
PRODUCERS
CUSTOMERS DISTRIBUTORS
A wholesaler or shop selling a particular product, such as cars, is a dealer. A reseller sells computers. Wholesalers and retailers are distributors. Wholesalers are sometimes disapprovingly called middlemen.
Shops A shop (BrE) or store (AmE) is where people buy things. Companies may call it a Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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retail outlet or sales outlet. Here are some types of shop: chain store: part of a group of shops, all with the same name. convenience store: small shop in a residential area and open long hours. deep discounter: a supermarket with very low prices. department store: very large shop with a wide variety of goods, usually in a town centre. drugstore: shop in a town centre in the US which sells medicines; you can also have coffee and meals there. hypermarket: very large shop with a wide variety of goods, usually outside a town. supermarket: very large shop, selling mainly food. In Britain, a shopping centre or shopping precinct is a purpose-built area or building in a town centre with a number of shops. Outside towns, there are shopping malls, where it is easy to park. Franchises are owned by the people that run them (franchisees), but they only sell the goods of one company. That company (the franchisor) provides goods, organizes advertising, and offers help and support. In return it takes a percentage of the profits of each franchisee. Many restaurants are also run like this. Direct marketing Hi, I'm Beatrice and I work in a direct marketing company in Brussels. We organize mailings for mane different products and services. This is direct mail but people often call it junk mail. We target our mailing lists very carefully: for example, we don't send mailshots for garden tools to people who live in apartments! We also do telemarketing, selling by telephone, including cold calls to people who have had no contact with us before. People are often rude to the workers in our call centres when they do this. 3. Use expressions from vocabulary to complete this presentation. Hi, my name's Michael Son. I started out in the PC business 15 years ago when I tried to buy a PC. There was a complicated (1) d…….. c......... between the manufacturer and the customer: (2) w ....... , (3) c……... and (4) r……… all added to the costs, but they didn’t add much value from the (5) c………’s point of view. Here at Son Computers, we manufacture every PC to order and deliver straight to the buyer. That way we cut out the (6) m……… . 4. Say where you go if you want to: 1 park easily and visit different shops without going to the town centre. 2 visit different shops grouped together in a British town centre. 3 buy a packet of sugar when all the supermarkets are closed. 4 have a snack in an American city without going to a restaurant. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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5 buy food very cheaply. 6 buy clothes in a town centre without going to a specialized clothes shop. 5 Which expression from vocabulary (direct marketing) does the ‘it’ in each sentence refer to? 1
4
I really hate it, all that stuff coming through my letter box. It never stops.
2
5 It’s a terrible place to work. We have to make 30 calls an hour, with few breaks.
3
I have to do it. I’ve never spoken to them before, but I’ve got no choice.
300,000 well-targeted letters to cat-lovers? We can organize it, no problem.
The two main activities make it up are mailing and telemarketing.
6
People who come home to ten answer phone message, all selling things, tend to hate it.
READING Marketing Channels 1. Rearrange the sentences below to make a complete text about marketing channels. a. If there’s only one intermediary, it could be a dealer or retailer for consumer goods, or a sales agent or broker for industrial goods. b. In oilier words, decisions about the location of manufacturing and assembly plants and ware houses' inventory levels, and transport methods should ideally begin with the needs of customers. c. More complex channels add further intermediaries such as transport companies, wholesalers, and independent distributors.
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d. Most producers, however, use a marketing channel involving one or more specialised intermediaries. e. Of course' the choice of which physical distribution channels to use should not come at the end of the marketing process. f. On the contrary, according to the logic of marketing, companies should begin with considerations such as the location of target customers, and work back to raw material sources and manufacturing. g. Some manufacturers do direct marketing, selling their goods directly to the endusers. h. These are essentially a short delivery time and a guarantee that products arrive in good condition. i. They can reach these consumers with their own door-to-door sales reps; by direct mail (sending catalogues, leaflets, brochures, order forms, and so on by post); by telephone selling; or by advertising and receiving orders via the Internet. j. Yet the demands of retailers and customers clearly also have to be balanced against excessive inventory costs, as large inventories tie up capital and increase the risk of spoilage or obsolescence. 2. Add appropriate words from the text to these sentences: 1. We do....………., marketing, by mail and telephone. 2. Last year we mailed our 160-page ……………….to over 10 million homes. 3. Obviously most ……………. goods are sold through retailers. 4. Producers of………… goods often have a large network of sales agents. 5. It's logical to store finished products close to your …………….customers. 6. This is a key element in choosing the………….. of a warehouse. 7. Both retailers and customers generally demand a short ………..time. 8. The trouble with having a large……….is that it immobilizes a lot of money. 3. Complete the crossword. Down 1. I’m a ………(11). I stock and. resell car parts to half the garages in this city. 2. He's an ………(5) for three German companies. He's responsible for selling their products in Britain. 3. (and 8 Down) I'm a ………(5, 3) for a clothing manufacturer. I'm part of a team, but I have my own territory and try to sell to customers in this district. 7. See 4 Across
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8. See 3 Down. Across 1. She's an art ………(6). She buys paintings from artists and sells them in her gallery. 4. (and 7 Down) We don't use any intermediaries, but sell directly to the ……… (3-4). 5. Look, I'm a ……… (8), and these are my prices. I can't give you a wholesale price, even if you buy my entire stock. 6. I'm an insurance ………(6). I advise customers where they can get the best deal. In other words, I bring together sellers and customers, and the seller pays me a commission. 9. This warehouse is owned by a big ………(10) which stocks goods from lots of suppliers, and distributes them to retailers when they place orders. 1.
2. 3. 4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Retailing 1. Do you like shopping? What types of shop do you prefer? Do you prefer any particular shop? Why? 2. Work in groups and discuss the reasons why people could not like shopping.
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3. Look at the bar chart. Compare your list with the information taken from the survey. What are the two main reasons people don’t like shopping? What can retailers do about these two problems in your opinion?
wh y we d o n 't l i ke sh o p p i n g queues
42%
crowds
18%
finding product
8%
parking not enough time carrying it inconvenient opening time
7% 5% 4% 3%
pricing
2%
packaging
2%
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Selling products and services The seller The sales force are the people who sell a product or sell a service. Their goal is to close a deal and make a sale. These people are trained to push back, or counter, arguments against their sales pitch (how they try to sell to you). The general term for a person who sells for a living is salesperson. However, several other variations of the job title exist, depending on the job itself. The purchaser Type of selling business to business
Description of purchaser and supplier B2B
A purchaser (or buyer) in the procurement department is employed by a company to get the best deal from their suppliers (the lowest price or best payment terms). Retail buyers work for supermarkets or other types of retail outlet. They negotiate retail listings or supermarket listings with suppliers, meaning that the retailer agrees to list the product as something they sell. The supplier needs to secure a listing or get the products
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listed or the outlet will not give shelf space to the product - that is, display the product in the store. business to consumer consumer to consumer
B2C C2C
Individual clients or customers buy from a shop or an online store. Individual people sell to other individuals. The classified ads in local newspapers are a good example. C2C has become more common thanks to internet sites such as eBay.
Selling a service A product is tangible, meaning it can be touched. A service, such as business consulting or healthcare, is intangible and does not have a physical presence. Packaging your service to make it look like a product is a frequently used marketing technique. A marketing student is making notes from an article offering advice on selling services: service levels = differently • Package your different service priced levels of service, at levels. Create bundles that are easily different quality levels sellable and that cater to your customers’ varying needs and bundles = services in groups budgets. A high-end package for a that are sold together car maintenance plan may include picking up the car for service and actual deliverables = what the cleaning the interior A low-end, consumer receives, i.e. a clean prepaid package could include a car reminder phone call for service and total value = the sum of the an oil change. These levels are value of the individual services differences in the actual in the bundle deliverables and the total value. • Combine services to create a new offering. For instance, as a marketing consultant, you could join forces with a copywriter and a graphic designer to create a ‘Business Start-up Success’ package. 1. Complete the sentences using the words from vocabulary. 1 Our sales ……… is very effective. They sell a lot of products. 2 A sales ……. came to the office yesterday. I didn't like his sales ……… at all he just talked and talked and didn't listen to what I was saying. 3 I’m a sales ……… . I work for an insurance company in Geneva. 4 As soon as a customer walks in, I know if I am going to ……… a sale. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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2. Choose the correct words from the brackets to complete the advice for food and drink companies on the Scottish Food and Drink website. Need to increase (1) _____ (retail buyers / shelf space) to grow the business but not sure how? The first step is to secure (2) _____ (a listing / an outlet), then you can target growth through increased shelf space. However, space is always at a premium and success will depend on a number of factors. Convince the (3) _____ (retail buyer/ procurement department) that your product is worth more space by showing him or her what other retail (4) ______ (listings/outlets) in the local area are doing. 3. Two marketers are talking about how to market their investment services. Match the two parts of the sentences. 1 Let's start by looking at turning the service into a product. Our investment services are 2 Yes, we could try to create 3 I don’t know, our business is really too complicated for prepaid 4 Our clients really need us to cater 5 Well, we could think about different service 6 Do you mean high and low 7 Yes, and we could combine different services to provide a new a bundles of different investment services. b levels for differing budgets. c offering. Say, life insurance, real estate, shares, bonds, savings accounts combined into one easy to manage portfolio. d intangible so it might be an interesting approach for our clients. e packages. f end packages? g to their individual budgets and needs.
READING 1. What things could bring success to a retailer? 2. Look at the headline and introduction to the text. Write five questions you would like to ask about Richer Sounds. 3. Read the text and see if you can find the answers to your questions. Can you guess the answers to your other questions? Richer Pickings By Nigel Cope
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At hi-fi chain Richer Sounds ‘we have a laugh’, says founder Julian Richer. They also sell more per square foot than any other retailer in Britain. Who is the busiest retailer in Britain? Marks and Spencer? Sainsbury perhaps, or Tesco? Wrong on all three counts. The answer is Richer Sounds, a little-known, privately-owned, cut-price retailer of hi-fi equipment with 28 shops in the UK. In the Guinness Book of Records, Richer Sounds warrants an entry for the highest sales per square foot of any retailer in the UK - £17,000 - for its store on London Bridge Walk in the City. Even taking an average across all 28 stores, Richer Sounds still clocks up £5,780 per square foot, ten times more than Marks and Spencer, six times the sales achieved by Sainsbury. It is profitable too. Sales are up and its operating margin has soared from 3.4 per cent in 1989 to almost thirteen per cent today. Last year Richer Sounds made profits of more than £3m on sales of almost £48 m. The man behind Richer Sounds’ success is founder, managing director and 98 per cent shareholder Julian Richer, a 39-year-old Londoner who, at the age of 14, used to buy and sell candles during the energy crisis of 1974. A likeable bloke who wears his blond hair in a pony tail and operates from a small converted Victorian vinegar factory in Bermondsey, south-east London, he raps out his sales pitch. ‘Even when I was at school I wanted to go into business,’ he says, ‘but my age was against me. Property was out - I wasn't old enough to sign a contract. Cars were out - I couldn’t drive. So I turned to hi-fi, which was catching on at school. I bought a second-hand Bang and Olufsen for £10, did it up* and sold it for £22.’ In 1979, at the age of 19, he opened his first shop - the one on London Bridge Walk. Since then little has changed. In simple terms, Richer Sounds sells discounted hi-fi from tiny, basic shops with low overheads. Stock turnover is rapid and the company’s smallness gives it flexibility to take advantage of deals offered by manufacturers on end-of-line or surplus equipment. The technique has enabled Richer Sounds to secure itself a lucrative niche in a £4 bn audiovisual market dominated by independents. While leading multiples stock mainly the mass market, volume selling midi systems which became popular in the early 1980s, Richer Sounds sells only hi-fi separates such as tuners and amplifiers. It buys either end-of-line ranges which manufacturers are hoping to off-load before the next, cosmetically different model arrives from Japan, or small orders of current models which, perhaps because of poor stock management, the manufacturer is prepared to sell at a reduced price. Now, as manufacturers' stock control improves, three-quarters of its stock is current models. Suppliers are keen to do business with this quirky* retailer. ‘People like Dixons and Comet have so many stores (344 and 262 respectively) that unless you've got 5,000 of a model it's not worth their while putting it into their distribution system,’ says Clive Roberts, sales and marketing director of Akai. ‘With Richer, you can do a deal on 30.’ Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Marketing is a key weapon. Richer so Sounds advertises regularly in national newspapers (‘We buy late space at a discount,’ Richer says) and in alternative* magazines such as Private Eye and Viz. Every month it produces up to 350,000 copies of a brochure pushing the latest offers. The shops are like walk-in warehouses. Outside, "bargain bins" tout special offers including audio cassettes for 59p. Inside, compact disc players, tuners and speakers from leading names such as Sony, Akai and Marantz are stacked from floor to ceiling. Banners hanging from the ceiling proclaim: ‘If you’ve seen it cheaper, we'll beat that price by up to £50.’ Good service is another priority. At Richer Sounds staff are trained not to be pushy*. They all attend two training seminars a year at Richer's country house in Yorkshire, where more attention is paid to following the correct administrative procedures. First-time hi-fi buyers get a call to check that they have plugged in the equipment correctly. Customer receipts include a freephone number they can dial if they have a problem. Richer’s own name and office number are supplied too. The emphasis is on fun. If it’s raining, customers are given a free umbrella. In summer they get a Chilly Willy (a type of ice lolly). Other seasonal gifts include mince pies at Christmas and hot-cross buns at Easter. ‘We have a laugh,’ Richer says. ‘We don’t take ourselves seriously, but we do take our customers seriously.’ *quirky: unusual, untypical *alternative: not traditional
*pushy: rude in trying to get what you want *to do smth. up: to repair smth
4. Read the text again and choose the best answer for each of the following questions. 1 Richer Sounds is a) a single outlet retailer. b) a privately-owned retail chain. c) a department store. 2 Richer Sounds a) sells ten times more than Marks and Spencer. b) has more outlets than most UK retailers. c) sells more per square foot than any other UK retailer. 3 Richer Sounds is cheaper than other hi-fi retailers because a) it only sells old models of hi-fi equipment. b) it buys equipment from manufacturers at special prices. c) it sells second-hand equipment. 4 Manufacturers like doing business with Richer Sounds because a) it can handle small numbers of items. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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b) it has a large number of stores. c) it accepts lower discounts than other retailers. 5 Richer Sounds a) does all its advertising through brochures. b) gets free publicity from newspaper and magazine articles. c) buys advertising space at a low price. 6 At Richer Sounds, staff a) regularly receive further training. b) do not have to follow rules. c) install equipment for their customers.
5. The following words can be used in more than one way. Underline the correct part of speech for each word as it is used in the text. 1 stock 2 deal
a a
noun noun
b b
verb verb
3 surplus
a
noun
b
adjective
4 secure
a
verb
b
adjective
5 market 6 model
a a
noun noun
b b
verb verb
7 order
a
noun
b
verb
8 control
a
noun
b
verb
c adjective
6. Complete the passage using appropriate forms of the words from ex. 5. Sephora is a French beauty supermarket chain which has revolutionised the way that perfumes and fragrances are sold. Sephora operates in a 1 _____ that has traditionally been served either by small exclusive perfume stores or by department stores. It 2 ________a wide selection of top products from beauty houses like Chanel and Estee Lauder. Two years ago the original founder of Sephora, Dominique Mandonnaud, was approached by the luxury chain LVMH (Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton) with an offer to buy the company and one year later a 3 ________ was made. Today Daniel Richard, the new president, 4 ________ all aspects of the business. He has managed to 5 _______ the support of many of the big brands in the perfume business and has placed big 6 ________ with them. Sephora has ambitious plans for the future, and recently opened a store in New York.
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7. Read the text about the American company Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. Replace the words in italics with these words from the text ‘Richer Pickings’. 1 customer
4 sales
2 duty
5 purchasing
3 profit
6 consumer
a profits b overheads c niche
d range e suppliers f discount
Wal-Mart is already manoeuvring to bring its vision of retailing to the European consumer. In the United States the company operates stores that are often twice as big as their European equivalents and which sell a huge 1selection of quality products at a 2 significant price reduction. However, duplicating its success on the old continent may prove to be just as difficult as conquering the New World's markets. Firstly, Europe with its limited space available for building new stores and its high 3 operating costs may make it more difficult for the company to produce the same 4 positive financial results that it has had in the US. In addition to that, it may be difficult to persuade 5 companies that provide goods for retailers to do business with them in the same way as they do in the US. But with its purchase of the British supermarket chain ASDA, Wal-Mart clearly wants to establish a 6 particular market for itself in Europe. 8. a) Look at these compound nouns from the text ‘Richer Pickings’. mass market special offer distribution system leading name What other compounds do you know with these words? a market b system c name d special b) Match words from A and B to make compound nouns. Check your answers in a dictionary. A B a power
d margin
b goods
e figures
c service
f free
Customer service Read the extracts below from Julian Richer's book The Richer Way. What do you think of the company's approach to customer service? What experiences have you had of good or bad service in shops? Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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‘We train our staff to take responsibility. If a customer has a complaint, the first thing the sale assistant does is apologise, even if he or she knows nothing about the circumstances. Then they go on to sort of the problem out.’
‘At Richer Sounds we hand out gold aeroplane badges for our ‘high flyers’ – staff who have performed above and beyond the call of duty, perhaps by giving exceptional customer service, or having a really brilliant idea.’
‘Every month the three winning shops in our customer service competition, the Richer Way League, win a car for a month. Two get Bentleys and one a Jaguar XJS convertible. The car is theirs to use as they wish, we pay the petrol.’
READING 1. Read the text about a controversial customer service programme at Safeway, a major American supermarket chain. Choose the best sentence (A-I) from the list opposite to complete each gap. A US Grocer's Embrace of Customer Service Safeway launched its Superior Service Program about five years ago. Among its rules: Make eye contact with the customer, smile, greet him or her, offer samples of products, make suggestions about other possible purchases that could go with the items being bought, and accompany them to locate items they cannot find. 1________. To encourage staff to follow the rules, Safeway employs an undisclosed number of ‘mystery shoppers’ whose job is to act like regular customers.
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2 _______. Workers who do well earn a chance at winning $500 worth of company stock, and managers whose workers are extremely friendly can receive additional bonuses. Those who are graded as having poor customer service skills are sent to a training program to learn how to be friendlier. 3 ________. Corporate efforts to brighten the shopping experience - such as yellow happy-face stickers and ‘have-a-nice-day’ slogans - have typically drawn mixed reactions. But few have caused as much angst among the sales staff as Safeway’s has. It has also had some unexpected side effects. 4 _______. There have been complaints by female workers in California who say that male customers have misinterpreted their friendliness and, according to some Safeway workers, the whole program is contributing to growing morale problems among the staff. In recent interviews, half a dozen Safeway workers said the rigid implementation of the Superior Service Program has left some workers feeling so overstressed that they quit. 5 _______. Some workers said they had been penalized for not smiling even though they felt they could not. One woman said she was marked down by mystery shoppers when she was going through a painful divorce. The policy of leading customers to a product they cannot find also causes some problems, workers said. 6 ______. Lonely elderly people in particular, they said, sometimes seek to be accompanied for an extended period, even through their entire shopping list. A Safeway officials said they were not aware of any employee who had resigned because of the program. B The majority of customers seem to be very happy with the improved service. C Some cynical workers call it smile school; others call it clown school. D Some shoppers seem to enjoy directing workers around the store. E The sampling policy is being abused by some shoppers. F They believe the program has resulted in increased sales. G They grade workers on a 19-point scorecard, and the results affect the performance evaluations of the worker and his/her managers. H There have been debates on the Internet and among customers about false and genuine friendliness. I It also includes thanking shoppers by name at the checkout by using information from their credit, debit or Safeway card.
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2 Combine a word from A with one from B to match each of the definitions below. A B department shopping sales stock retail special bargain
hunters pitch stores chains offers centres turnover
1 __________________ a persuasive argument to sell a product 2___________________ the rate at which goods are sold 3___________________ sales promotions to attract customers . 4___________________ shops with outlets in many locations . 5___________________ customers who seek the lowest prices 6___________________ large shops, usually located in city centres, which sell a wide variety of products 7___________________ retail facilities where customers have access to a variety of different stores in the same location.
WRITING The company you work for faced the problem of an inefficient customer service. You were asked to analyze the situation (what do the customers complain about?) and give the recommendations how the service could be improved. Write a report to present your ideas. Follow the structure of a report. A report should be well organized with information presented in a logical order. It is usually contains: • sections and subsections • headings and subheadings • a numbering system • indented information All these help to make the report easy to read. Structure of a report: • Title • Introduction • Findings • Conclusions • Recommendations Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Introduction usually includes: • who asked for the report • why the report is being written • the purpose of the report The introduction sometimes contains the Procedure – where/how you got the information. Findings are the facts you discovered. Conclusions are what you think about the facts and how you interpret them. Recommendations are practical suggestions as to what should be done to solve the problem, remedy the situation.
Electronic commerce 1. Discuss these questions. 1 What modern channels of distribution do you know? Have you ever used them to buy anything? 2 Have you ever bought anything over the Internet? If so, what was your experience of the website, delivery of goods, time taken, etc? 3 What kind of products or services are best sold on the Net? 4 Are there any things which could not or should not be sold on the Net? 5 What are the advantages and disadvantages of Internet shopping? Prepare the list. 6 Look at the list you’ve made. Try to predict the future of e-commerce.
READING 1 1. a) Read the text and see how close your predictions were to the ideas given here. b)Match the headings below to the paragraphs in the article. There is one heading you don't need. Write the correct heading number in each box. 1 What consumers really want 2 'Real’ e-commerce 3 Consumers want more than just convenience 6 Goodbye to the keyboard 4 Why e-commerce isn't working 5 The virtual shopping assistant Shopping from home What forms of e-commerce will dominate the next millennium? What is it that the consumer may wants and will pay for? For a while, companies believed
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that consumers wanted convenience more than the best price. Catalogue shopping works on this principle, but it makes up only two per cent of the economy. Consumers really want things to be simple, easy and fast. They want to be entertained when they, shop. They want to comparison shop. They want the best service. They wan: great prices. The Internet and e-commerce can provide all of this. High definition graphics and video will be part of the everyday online shopping experience. People will be able to virtually shop and interact with their friends without leaving home. Artificial intelligence will put a virtual shop assistant at the service of every online shopper. She will suggest colours, sizes and other features that match the shoppers’ preferences. These will be stored on the company's computers. The biggest obstacle to the Net is the keyboard. Voice recognition will make it obsolete. The consumer will access the network from anywhere - from home, the car, or perhaps even from a pair of glasses. The consumer will say, ‘I’d like to buy a red sweater today, something in the $25 to $30 range.’ The network will take that request, along with any other historical preferences the consumer has - such as size, style and fabric. It will assemble a range of options at different prices from a variety of stores. All in the consumer's exact size. Then the consumer will be able to virtually try on the different sweaters using a 3D model of herself stored in the computer. And that is real e-commerce. 2. The words and phrases a-h are from an article on the future of e-commerce. Match them to the explanations 1-8. a to comparison shop b catalogue shopping c voice recognition d a keyboard e a range of options f historical preferences g to virtually shop h to try on 1 to compare the products offered by different suppliers 2 the thing you use to type text into a computer 3 to see if clothes fit you and suit you 4 to buy things online 5 information based on past customer choices 6 a system where customers buy by post 7 a number of different choices 8 a system where a computer understands spoken Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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3. Complete the sentences below with the vocabulary items in 2. Each sentence expresses an opinion. Do you agree? a They should completely redesign the computer _______. It's uncomfortable and badly organised. b I would never buy a suit online. I love going to shops and having the opportunity _______ clothes and feel the quality of the material. c _______ may be popular in the USA but nobody buys things that way in my country. d I don't like the idea of ______. I feel silly talking to a machine and it probably wouldn't understand me well. e I never have time ______. If I see something I like, I usually buy it on impulse. f I think I will always prefer to go to a high street clothes store than ______. g I like shopping in big shopping centres because they offer ______ that small shops can't compete with. h I object to the way some websites leave ‘cookies’ on your computer which record your _______ from previous visits.
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T E-commerce: after boom and bust Old economy, new economy In the late 1990s companies raised vast amounts of money from investors for e-commerce Internet sites, both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-tobusiness (B2B). B2B, where businesses obtain supplies using the Internet, is also referred to as e-procurement. Commentators talked about the old economy, with companies doing business in traditional ways, and the new economy, with companies doing business over the Internet. This was the dotcom frenzy, the period of large numbers of Internet start-ups, many promising riches for investors, some of whom believed that the usual laws of economics no longer applied. However, most of the sites from that time have now disappeared. B2C In business-to-consumer e-commerce, sites were set up selling everything from pet food to clothes. Among the survivors, there are companies like Amazon, pure-play (exclusively) online sellers, with no traditional shops - no bricks-andmortar outlets. This is pure e-tailing. Other retail organizations are clicks-and-mortar ones, combining e-commerce with sales through traditional outlets. Some old-economy companies, like the UK supermarket group Tesco, use e-commerce in conjunction with its existing operations - it did not have to invest in a whole new expensive infrastructure of
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PART 10 CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION VOCABULARY THROUGH THE CONTEXT
new computer systems, warehouses, etc. to take care of its e-fulfilment, processing and delivering orders. B2B In business-to-business e-commerce, groups of companies can set up public exchanges. For example, the Worldwide Retail Exchange allows companies to bid to supply participating retailers in a reverse auction on the Internet - the supplier offering the lowest price gets the contract. There are also private exchanges, where a single company deals with suppliers in this way. Some companies prefer to use this form of e-commerce because they do not want to indicate their requirements to their competitors, thus revealing their current activities. Both public and private exchanges are also referred to as e-marketplaces, trading hubs or trading platforms. 1. Match the two parts of these sentences. 1 B2B e-commerce can cut firms’ costs because 2 The company operates four e-commerce sites, 3 There was a huge temptation for me to follow the dotcom frenzy 4 Management theorists agreed that old-fashioned command-and-control management styles would not work 5 There has been a trend for investors to shift funds out of the technology, media and telecoms sectors 6 As the early web firms were addressing the business-to-consumer market, a) the low prices they promised consumers meant that the scale of their business had to be enormous. b) but I felt more comfortable investing in a fund whose core holdings are large multinationals. c) it reduces procurement costs, both by making it easier to find cheapest supplier and through efficiency gains. d) selling books, CDs, DVDs and computer games. e) in the new economy, where creativity and innovation are everything. f) back into old economy companies such as oil and car producers. 2. Complete the sentences with appropriate forms of vocabulary expressions. 1 Retailer A sells clothes in shops and also over the Internet: it has _____ ______- ______ outlets. 2 Retailer В sells books and CDs on the Internet and has no shops: it has no ______- _______-______ ______, so it's involved in ______ ______- _______. 3 Retailer В has built massive warehouses and developed sophisticated computer systems: it has invested in the _______ necessary for _______-_______. 4 Household goods manufacturer С has set up a _______ _______ where it asks for bids from suppliers. 5 Defence companies D, E, F and G have got together to form a ______ ______
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in order to get competitive bids from a range of suppliers. 6 Suppliers to D, E, F and G submit prices for particular projects in a ______ ______, and the supplier offering the lowest price wins the contract. 7 Manufacturer С and Companies D, E, F and G run different kinds of ____________. (three possible expressions)
READING 2 1. a) What's the difference between a ‘bricks and mortar’ and an ‘online’ retailer? Can you give an example of each? b) What do you know about these companies: Amazon, eBay, Sears Roebuck? Internet shopping - the sequel By Neil Buckley
Pets.com; Webvan; Boo.com. The road to the online retailing future is littered with the wrecks of Internet start-ups once seen as the pioneers of a retailing revolution. The shape of e-tail, however, is very different from what was predicted a few years ago. Apart from Amazon and eBay - the web’s biggest forum for buying and selling, though it is an auction house not a retailer -most of the biggest online retailers are not Internet start-ups but traditional shop or mail-order groups. Retailers have brought their investment capacity and trusted brand names to bear on Internet shopping – thus boosting public confidence. Many have integrated online sales into a ‘multichannel’ strategy that may link a website, shops and a mailorder catalogue. ‘There was a time when everybody said the Internet was going to steal purchases from shops. But the opposite is happening: multichannel retailing is the reality today,’ says Darrell Rigby, head of the global retail practice at Bain & Co, the management consultants. ‘Many classic bricks-and-mortar retailers actually started making money on their online operations long before Amazon did.’ A prime example of the fusion of the online and so-called ‘offline’ retail worlds is Amazon itself. The company has expanded well beyond its roots as a seller of books and CDs, acting as an online mall selling everything from gourmet foods to clothing. Evolving from pure retailer to 'retail platform', it now conducts its online commerce in partnership with bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Target, Nordstrom, Borders and Circuit City. That blending of online and offline is offering consumers new ways to shop. They may research and order their purchase online, but have it delivered to a nearby shop - a service offered by retailers such as Sears Roebuck and Circuit City so as to avoid delivery charges and allow them to see or try it on first. Some of the biggest US retailers are developing integrated operations. JC Penney, the century-old department store chain, saw its Internet sales reach Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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$600m last year. It offers 200,000 items that can be delivered to customers’ homes or any of its 1,020 shops. Steve Riordan, a consultant at AT Kearney, says traditional retailers that have not yet embraced the online world face heavy investment and some tough choices. Are they 100 going to run online operations themselves or outsource them? Do they use the same sourcing model from the same factories? Do they have different distribution centres? While the US still leads the way, it does not have a monopoly on successful Internet retailers. Tesco, the British supermarket chain, has the world's biggest online grocery business. It has helped Safeway, the third-largest US supermarket chain, set up its Internet operations. The biggest e-commerce site in Japan is Rakuten, a home-grown online shopping mall that began life in 1997 with just 13 shops. Today, it has more than 10,000 and a s h a r e o f t h e e-commerce market three times bigger than secondranking Yahoo Japan, according to a report by JP Morgan. Some pure Internet retailers are also continuing to grow. Yoox.com - which sells end-of-season and exclusive goods from designers such as Armani, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana - has proved that designer labels will sell online and those European e-tailers can succeed internationally. It chose to launch in Europe first, close to the designers whose goods it sells. Yoox now sells in seven languages to 25 countries in Europe, North America and Japan. Its stylish site – which it calls an ‘e-concept store’ - enables shoppers to ‘zoom’ in on clothes and see them from different angles, and includes video and music. Federico Marchetti, the Italian former investment banker who is Yoox’s founder and chief executive, says that anyone selling online does not just have to get the technology and orders right. They also have to provide fun and entertainment. ‘What we have been trying to do with Yoox is build a very nice customer experience,’ he says. ‘The online retailer always has to be doing something interesting and different.' From the Financial Times
2. Match the summaries below to the first six paragraphs of the article. a) People mistakenly thought that Internet sales would take sales away from traditional stores. b) A large number of Internet companies were unsuccessful. c) A well-known American retailer is getting an increasing amount of revenue from online sales. d) The largest online sellers are well-established businesses. e) Consumers are taking advantage of the new partnerships by shopping online but using traditional retailers to collect their goods. f) Some well-known Internet companies have joined with established companies to sell a wide range of products. 3. Now read the rest of the article and answer the questions below. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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1 What issues should traditional retailers consider before going online? 2 What facts show that a) Tesco and b) Rakuten have been highly successful in selling online? 3 According to Federico Marchetti, what do Internet businesses need to do to be successful? 4. Match the following word partnerships. 1 distribution 2 online 3 designer 4 delivery
a) labels b) charge c) retailing d) centre
5 supermarket 6 shopping 7 auction 8 mail-order
e) catalogue f) houses g) chains h) mall
5. Check your answers in the article. Complete the following sentences with one of the word partnerships above. 1 Unless you collect the goods from the retail store, there is an additional ……… . 2 Sotheby's and Christie's are probably the most famous ……… in the world. Their sales of antiques and paintings are legendary. 3 In the US many people spend the whole day at their local ……… because it is easy to park and you can buy everything there. 4 Some traditional businesses have found that they can make a lot of money from ……… with a small investment in an easy-to-use website. 5 These days many ……… sell not only food, but also services such as insurance and banking. 6 Goods with ……… command premium prices in the shops. 7 From our ……… just outside Paris we supply a network of wholesalers across Europe. 8 Many people like the convenience of ordering goods from home using a ……… . 6. Discuss these statements. All retailers will have to sell online. There is no safe way of buying goods online. Online businesses will never be able to guarantee delivery on time because they rely on postal services. Some products and services cannot be sold online. 7. Work in pairs and discuss what went wrong in the following situation. Use the notes from the job list extract below. Use conditional constructions. For example, If they’d set up the site properly, they wouldn’t have had so many complaints. ClickShop.com is in the Internet shopping business. In order to save money when it redesigned its website six months ago, it decided no to employ a specialist design company. Instead, the work was done by some of its own employees who had Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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limited experience. Technical problems have now led to customer complaints, which have impacted on scale.
-
set site up properly use an expert allocate a bigger budget listen to customer feedback
- plan carefully - not try to cut corner - recognize problems earlier - do more research
WRITING Write a short magazine article about retailing. The notes below will help you. • Begin with a description of a current situation. • Add two paragraphs describing advantages and disadvantages of home chopping and traditional shopping. • Make any conclusion about the future of retailing.
Home shopping & Traditional shopping • 40% shoppers interested in weekly delivery service for foodstuffs and household goods • 75% like stores open early & late • Many supermarkets planning catalogue/home delivery/electronic ordering • Consumer protection difficult to regulate on the Internet • Many traditional shoppers happy with current situation Project work: You have been asked to prepare and test a questionnaire that will be used in a consumer survey of customers of a chain of retail bookshops. The questionnaire will be used in interviews with customers to collect the following information: • customer profile • customer satisfaction • attitudes to mail order and e-commerce In pairs prepare the questions to include in your survey, covering these areas: Customer profiles resident / visitor professional and social background income regular / occasional Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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level of spending how they discovered the store Customer satisfaction
Customer attitudes
service product range prices communication of information suggestions for improvement experience and opinion of mail order experience and opinion of e-commerce
Your questionnaire should contain a mix of question types. Look at the extract from the survey. Which question is: a a multiple choice question? b a closed question? c an open question? 1 Do you live in this town? 2 What do you do? 3 How much money do you earn per year?
Yes/No _________ a $0 -10,000 b $10,000 -30,000 c more than $30,000
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PART 11 PROMOTION What types of promotion do you know? Why is necessary for modern marketing?
READING 1. Read the text and then decide which of the three summaries on the next page most fully and accurately expresses its main ideas. Promotional Tools Marketing is often defined as a matter of identifying consumer needs and developing the goods and services that satisfy them. This involves developing the right product, pricing it attractively, and making it available to the target customers, by persuading distributors and retailers to stock it. But it is also necessary to inform potential consumers of the product's existence, its features, and its advantages, and to persuade them to try it. There are generally several stages involved in a consumer's decision to buy a new product. A well-known acronym for this process is AIDA, standing for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. According to the familiar ‘4 Ps’ formulation of the marketing mix - product, price, place and promotion – attracting attention, arousing interest and persuading the consumer to act are all part of promotion. Marketing textbooks conventionally distinguish four basic promotional tools: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling, which together make up the marketing communications mix. For consumer goods, the most important tool is generally advertising. As well as advertising particular brands, companies also carry out prestige or institutional advertising, designed to build up the company’s name or image. Advertising is often combined with sales promotions, such as free samples, coupons and competitions. For industrial goods, particularly specialised ones, the most important tool is often personal selling. Sales reps can build up relationships with company buyers, and can be very useful in persuading them to choose a particular product. The fourth promotional tool is public relations (frequently abbreviated as PR): activities designed to improve or maintain or protect a company’s or a product’s image. Public relations includes things like company publications, most notably the annual report, sponsorship, community relations programmes, the lobbying of politicians, and the creation of news stories, all designed to get publicity for the company or a particular product. Unlike paid advertising, publicity is any (favourable) mention of a company's products that is not paid for, in any medium received by a company’s customers or potential customers. Companies often attempt to place information in news media to draw attention Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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to a product or service. Quite apart from financial considerations, the advantage of publicity is that it is generally more likely to be read and believed than advertising. It can have a great impact on public awareness that could not even be achieved by a massive amount of advertising. Within the limits of their budget, marketers have to find the optimal communications mix of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and publicity, without neglecting the other elements of the marketing mix, i.e. the possibility of improving the product, lowering its price, or distributing it differently. First Summary Marketing involves making a good, cheap product and convincing customers to buy it by way of a good communications mix. For consumer goods' this is generally done with advertising and sales promotions. For specialised industrial goods, this is done by personal selling. Publicity, such as favourable mentions of a company's products in news media, is also useful. Second Summary Marketing involves four basic elements: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling. The first three of these are used for consumer goods, the last for industrial goods. These tools, along with product improvement, price reductions, and distribution channel innovations, makeup the communications mix. Third Summary Marketing involves producing the right product, pricing it attractively, making it available to potential customers, and promoting it. With consumer goods, this largely involves advertising and sales promotions. For industrial goods, personal selling is often more important. Publicity is also a useful tool as it is cheaper and generally more credible than advertising. Marketers have to combine these tools to create the best possible communications mix. 2. Look through the text again and answer the questions. 1. What are the main four groups of promotional tools? 2. What does the acronym AIDA stand for? 3. What does ‘4Ps’ mean? 4. What type of products is the personal selling used? 5. What is the difference between PR and publicity? 3. Classify the following 28 terms into four groups, according to which of the four major communications or promotional tools they belong to.
annual reports billboards or hoardings
leaflets lobbying
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brochures or booklets catalogues commercials community relations company publications competitions and contests couponing demonstrations donations to charity free gifts free trials telemarketing
mailings packaging point-of-purchase displays posters price reductions print ads sales presentations sales reps samples sponsorship symbols and logos trade fairs and shows
Advertising
Sales promotions
Public relations
Personal selling
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…………… …………… …………… …………… 4. Match the ways of promoting a product to their descriptions. packaging advertising sales literature telephone sales
personal selling public relations showrooms trade fairs and exhibitions
point of sale publicity sponsorship word of mouth
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2. Display in retail outlets can attract the attention of potential customers. 3. Labels and presentation increase the impact of the product. 4. You can contribute to the cost of a sporting or artistic event, where the brand name or logo is displayed prominently. 5. Potential customers can come to the premises and see a display or a demonstration of the products and get hand-on experience. 6. The company takes a stand or mounts an exhibition to enable customers to see the products and talk to the representatives. 7. The public are informed of a new development through newspaper articles. You can inform the press by issuing press releases. 8. PR can ensure that the firm keeps a high profile, and that people are aware of a good reputation and image. 9. Exiting customers tell their friends or colleagues about the product and hopefully recommend it to.
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Advertising
Neon signs
Each photo shows a different advertising medium. Special display
Display advertisements
TV commercial
The Internet is a new advertising medium. Product endorsements are when famous people recommend a product. A series of advertisements for a particular company or product is an advertising campaign. A person or business that advertises is an advertiser. An organization that designs and manages advertising campaigns is an advertising agency.
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Sponsorship is where companies sponsor (pay some of the costs of) events like concerts and sports events. The sales force A company's salespeople (its salesmen and saleswomen) visit customers and persuade them to buy its products. Each member of this salesforce may be responsible for a particular region: his or her sales area or sales territory. The head of the sales force is the sales manager. Promotional activities Promotion (uncountable) is all the activities supporting the sale of a product, including advertising. A promotion (countable) describes: - a special offer such as a discount - a free gift: given with the product. or reduced price. - competitions with prizes. - a free sample: a small amount of the product to try or taste. Supermarkets and airlines give loyalty cards to customers: the more you spend, the more points you get, and you can exchange these points for free goods or flights. Cross-promotion is where you buy one product, and you are recommended to buy another product that may go with it. 1. Complete the crossword. Across 4 Better than a classified one. (7,13) 5 Free ……… . (7) 8 All the salespeople: sales (5) 10 An advertising ....organizes ads. (6) 11 Offers, competitions, etc. (10) 14 Given away free as part of a promotion. (5) 15 You win these in competitions. (6) 16 People or organizations who advertise. (11) 17 Female members of the sales force: sales …….. . (5) Down 1 BrE for ‘billboard’. (8) 3 One salesperson’s region for selling. (9) 5 Electric advertising: neon ……… . (4) 6 Head of the sales force: sales ……. . (7) 7 Male salespeople. (8) 9 A new advertising medium. (8) Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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12 Television is an example of a …….. . (6) 13 Another word for 3 down (plural). (5) 1 3
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2. Match the sentence (1-3) to the correct words (a-c). 1 Many supermarkets run competitions and offers to encourage people to buy from them. 2 For example, yesterday I bought two kilos of oranges for half the usual price. 3 I also bought some coffee, which came with a free mug. a special offer b promotions c free gift Advertising I 1. Discuss the questions. 1. Do you watch advertisements? 2. What kind of advertisements do you like? 3. What is your favourite advertisement? Describe it. 2. Work in groups and write a list of things that make a good advertisement. What features should it have?
good advertisement Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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3. Read the text about advertising. Complete each gap (1–10) by choosing the correct word a, b or c. It pays to advertise Everyone knows the reason for advertising – it helps you sell more (1) ______ . Successful advertising (2) _____ can have a dramatic effect on sales, leading to increases that would surprise most people. Advertising on TV is a huge business. TV (3) ______ receive millions in revenue from companies desperate to have their product highlighted for less than a minute at a time. Clearly everyone wants their (4) ______ shown at peak-time when the number of (5) ______ is at its highest. This demand means that the cost of advertising during certain (6) ______ can be incredible – up to £30,000 for five slots of 30 seconds! However, companies may be under the false impression that (7) _______ on TV is the best technique. In fact, the most cost effect methods are those employed by some of the major brands that are (8) ______ worldwide. The first thing the companies do is to find a simple (9) ______ that will be easily recognised. Next, they visit the retailers and pay to have the products (10) ______ in a particular place. Next time you visit your local supermarket, have a look at the items that you can find displayed at eye height or at the end of aisles. You may be surprised by what you see – subtle advertising is all around. 1 a increases b products c item 2 a campaigns b markets c programme 3 a companies b directors c viewers 4 a advertisement b channel c programme 5 a advertisements b programmes c viewers 6 a advertisements b logos c programmes 7 a advertising b marketed c programme 8 a companies b marketed c recognise 9 a logo b picture c programme 10 a displayed b marketed c view 4. Do you think that the advertising practices described below are acceptable? Are there any other types of advertisement that you find offensive? 1 Using children in advertisements 2 Using nudity in advertisements 3 Promoting alcohol on TV 4 Comparing your products to your competitors’ products 5 An image flashed onto a screen very quickly so that people are affected without noticing it (subliminal advertising)
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READING 1. Scan the news report. List the names of any companies mentioned in the report. Advertising standards The Advertising Standards Agency annual report has announced that 2003 was a record year for complaints, with almost 14,300 complaints being made about particular adverts. True or misleading? In the UK alone, no less than 1,700 advertisements were changed or withdrawn last year, according to figures released by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The main sectors for objections were adverts for holidays and travel. Complaints about text message marketing rose by more than 500% to 393, up from 65 in 2004 and 6 in 2005. More and more companies now use mobile phone text messages to target consumers. The best a man can get Adverts from both Wilkinson and Gillette claimed that their shaving system is ‘the best’ – but how can both products be the best? A Dutch court ruled that both companies can make the claim, as members of the public will not necessarily believe them! The judge said that some exaggeration is permissible, as long as it’s not misleading in nature, because it will be sceptically received by the average consumer. The fastest PC in the world Complaints have been made about the claim made by Apple that their Power Mac G5 is ‘the world’s fastest personal computer’. After tests were performed, the ASA agreed with the complaint, ruling that the G5 was not the fastest computer ‘in all circumstances for all applications’. Targeting children Further controversy surrounds food advertising targeted at children. Obesity is rising and in the UK about 40% of TV advertising during children’s programmes is for food – fast food, cereals, snacks and soft drinks. Some parents feel bullied into buying products which they feel are not good for their children. In the US angry parents have brought lawsuits against some of the world’s largest alcohol companies, including Heineken and Bacardi, as health groups link a surge in underage drinking to aggressive advertising. Complete truth in advertising may be an impossible ideal. As adverts becomes more demanding of our attention and as we become more critical, complaints will no doubt continue to rise. So, more and more companies will face the challenge of advertising their products in a way we find acceptable.
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2. Read the whole report and summarise the advertising problems that the companies in exercise 1 are facing. 3. Discuss the following questions in small groups and report your ideas to the class. 1 Do you agree with text message and email advertising? 2 Do you agree that ‘some exaggeration is permissible, as long as it is not misleading’? Can you think of an advertisement which makes exaggerated claims? Can you think of an advertisement which is misleading? 3 Should advertising targeted at children be limited? Justify your answer. 4. Which of the following statements do you agree with? 1 People remember advertisements not products. 2 Advertising raises prices. 3 Advertising has a bad influence on children. 4 Advertising is the greatest art form of our century. II 1. Many advertisements contain a slogan or short phrase to attract the consumer’s attention. Work in pairs. Read the slogans below and think of as many products as possible that could have been advertised with these slogans.
1 There will come a day when everyone in your company will collaborate and co-ordinate in ways you never imagined.
4 Put your family above everything else.
5 Learn more in five days than some managers learn in forty years. 7 It takes 75,000 people to make it fly.
2 We’d love to have you for dinner.
3 The key to relationships.
6 It’s no good having power without control.
8 A celebration of music, family and love.
2 Read the texts about translations of slogans and brand names, and note the problem in each case. A
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In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan ‘Come alive with the Pepsi generation’ came out as ‘Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.’ B When Parker marketed a pen in Mexico, its ads were supported to say ‘It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.’ However, the company translated ‘embarrass’ as ‘embarazar’, which means ‘to become pregnant.’ So the ads said ‘It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.’ C In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name as Schweppes Toilet Water. D Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a French pornographic magazine. E When Braniff Airlines translated a slogan for its comfortable seats, ‘fly in leather’ it came out in Spanish as ‘fly naked.’ 2. In groups, write down five popular slogans in your language. Try to translate them into English. Read them out to the other groups and see if they can guess which products your translated slogans refer to.
V OC A B U L A R Y 1. Newspapers and TV are advertising media. Think about others. 2. Look at the words in the box below. Label each item 1 for advertising media, 2 for methods advertising or 3 for verbs to do with advertising. directories 1 persuade publicise sponsorship run mailshots promote cinema commercials public transport place free samples exhibition billboards/hoardings launch leaflets point-of-sale posters word of mouth radio target endorsement research sponsor press Internet slogans television 3. Choose the most suitable word from the words in brackets to complete these sentences. 1 Viacom Outdoor is an advertising company that specialises in placing adverts on (billboards/public transport/television) such as buses. 2 Some perfume companies provide (leaflets/commercials/free samples) so that customers can try the perfume on their skin before they buy. 3 Advertising companies spend a lot of money on creating clever (slogans/directories/mailshots) that are short and memorable such as the message for the credit card, Access: ‘Your flexible friend.’
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4 Celebrity (exhibition/research/endorsement) is a technique that is very popular in advertising at the moment. 5 If new about a product comes to you by (word of mouth/press/Internet), someone tells you about it rather than you seeing an advert. 6 If you have something to sell, you can (target/place/launch) an advert in the local newspaper.
READING 2 1. What do you understand by outdoor advertising? Give examples. 2. Read the article and complete the table.
Outdoor advertising - A breath of fresh air The world of outdoor advertising billboards, transport and 'street furniture' (things like bus shelters and public toilets) - is worth about $18 billion a year, just 6% of all the world's spending on advertising. But it is one of the fastest-growing segments, having doubled its market share in recent years. Outdoor advertising’s appeal is growing as and print are losing theirs. The soaring costs of TV are prompting clients to consider alternatives. Dennis Sullivan, boss of Portland Group, a media buyer, calls outdoor advertising the last true massmarket medium. It is also cheap. In Britain, a 30-second prime-time TV slot costs over £60,000 ($100,000); placing an ad on a bus shelter for two weeks works out at about £90. Adding to its attractions has been a revolution m the quality of outdoor displays, Famous architects such as Britain’s Sir Norman Foster are designing arty bus shelters and kiosks with backlit displays. Backlighting, introduced in Europe by Decaux and More, and plastic poster skins have vastly improved colour and contrast. Movement is possible too. Smirnoff used new multi-image printing to make a spider, seen through a vodka bottle, appear to crawl up a man’s back. And Disney advertised its ‘101 Dalmatians’ video on bus shelters with the sound of puppies barking. Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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This sort of innovation has attracted a new class of advertiser. Recent data from Concord, a poster buyer, shows that in Britain, alcohol and tobacco have been replaced by entertainment, clothing and financial services as the big outdoor advertisers, like car makers, are using it in new ways. BMW ran a ‘teasers’ campaign in Britain exclusively on bus shelters. Particularly attractive to the new advertisers is street furniture, the fastest growing segment of the outdoor market. If accounts for some 20% in Europe and about 5% in America. From The Economist
3. What do these numbers in the article refer to? 18 6 30 60,000 100,000
90
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4. Discuss these questions. 1 Outdoor advertising is increasing in many countries. Is this a good thing? 2 What products do you think are suitable for outdoor advertising? 5. Work in groups of three. Choose one advertising media below. Prepare a poster on its advantages and disadvantages. Make a short presentation. television
billboards
newspapers
street furniture
V OC A B U L A R Y T H R OU GH T H E C ON T E X T Out-of-home advertising formats Outdoor advertising, or out-of-home (ООН) advertising can really grab your attention or get in your face. Advertisers have a wide choice of poster sites, sizes and formats from 4 sheets to 96 sheets. Roadside panels: Billboards are large outdoor panels for displaying ads. Giant banners or wallscapes are hung on the front of buildings. Outdoor contractors also offer lightboxes (illuminated panels), tri-face billboards (with rotating sections allowing three different advertisements to be displayed in sequence) and scrollers (signs displaying a number or posters, one after the other). Street furniture: In 1962 Jean-Claude Decaux introduced the concept of advertising on bus shelters. Pedestrian panels are backlit - lit from behind - and normally located on streets in town and city centres. Transit advertising: Taxis, buses, trams and trains can be wrapped in vinyl showing a company’s adverts. Ads can also be positioned inside or on the side or rear of a vehicle.
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Ambient media: Adverts can be displayed on non-traditional media such as the back of a receipt from a shop or a travel ticket. The use of floor graphics is common in supermarkets and shopping centres. Digital outdoor advertising: LED screens are used in similar sites to traditional billboards. Digital video billboards show short advertising spots (15, 30 or 60 seconds). Consumers can interact directly with some interactive advertising sites, such as bus shelters and poster panels, using their mobile phones. Note: Paste is the adhesive used to attach posters to walls; the word can be used as a noun and as a verb. Billboards are sometimes called hoardings in India and the UK.
Effectiveness of ООН Advertisers can buy a network of sites to target their consumers or to reach people in their geographical area, or catchment zone. Eye-catching - attractive and noticeable - ads such as sonic posters (which include sounds), ‘smelly’ posters (including smells or odours) and lenticular posters (showing different images as you walk past them) can be very memorable. Outdoor campaigns can be measured by opportunities to see (OTS) or coverage (see Unit 33). The term approach specifies the distance between the point where the advertisement first become visible, to the point where is no longer readable because it has passed out of sight. 1. Complete the crossword. Across 2 Another name for a hoarding. (9) 5 This type of furniture is found outside. (6) 7 This type of advertising makes a noise. (5) 8 A giant ……… is hung on a building. (6) 10 Advertising on buses, taxis, etc. (7) 12 Advertising you can walk on: a……… graphic. (5) 13 The latest technology for out-of-home advertising. (7) 14 The image changes as you walk past this type of poster. (10) Down 1 Out-of-home advertising gets in your ……… . (4) 3 To put up posters. (5) 4 An illuminated panel. (8) 6 By the sides of streets and roads. (8) 9 You can wrap buses and taxis in this material. (5) 11 Another word for ‘out-of-home’. (7)
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2. Complete the news report using words from the box. catching
coverage
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Commuters in Bristol were surprised by an invasion of out-of-home advertising last Tuesday. The opening of a new concert hall was announced by huge banners (1)……… on prominent sites around the city. Buses were (2) ……… in the concert hall’s logo and colours. Bus (3) ……… were treated to new eye- (4) ……… interactive ads that lit up and made noises as pedestrians walked past. A spokesperson for the new concert hall said that the public reaction had been good. ‘We got greater (5) ……… than we had imagined.’ he added. One commuter said that she had been pleasantly surprised to find herself walking on floor (6) ………. instead of the ordinary floor.
READING 3 1. Discuss with your partner. 1 Have you ever watch product endorsements? 2 Which celebrities form your country are used in advertising? 3 Which products do they advertise? 4 Do you think this kind of advertising is effective? 2. Read the article. Match the celebrities to their sport. What makes Nike’s advertising tick? By Stefano Hatfield
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Phil Knight, the co-founder and former Chief Executive of Nike, prefers to let his superstar athletes and advertisements do his talking for him. Named Advertiser of the year at the 50th Cannes International Advertising Festival, he is the first parson to win the award twice. Knight has an absolutely clear and committed strategy to use celebrity athlete endorsement. He describes it as one part of ‘three-legged stool’ which lies behind Nike’s phenomenal growth since the early 1980s, with the other two being product design and advertising. He has built Nike’s expansion into sport after sport from its athletics roots on the back of sporting masters: Carl Lewis on the track; tennis’s Jimmy Connors and john McEnroe; Tiger Woods, who led Nike into golf; Ronaldo and the Brazilian national football team; and basketball star, Michael Jordan, who famously rescued the company. From the beginning Nike has been prepared to take a gamble on sporting bad boys others would not touch: Andre Agassi springs to mind. It was a strategy that began with Ilie Nastase, the original tennis bad boy. The Romanian had the quality that has come to represent Nile and its advertising attitude. After extraordinary growth, Nike became number one trainer manufacturer in the US. But Knight admits the company then lost its way as it failed to cope with its success. It experimented unsuccessfully with expansion into non-athletic shoes, and lost its number one position to Reebok in 1986. Knight bet the future of the company on a new feature: a new air technology inside the trainer. He launched the product with David Fincher- directed ad which use the Beatles track Revolution, and then marketed the Air Jordon brand on the back of Michael Jordon. Sales took off and the rest is history. This brings us to the subject of globalization and the question of how American the brand can be. Nike uses a mix of global ad campaigns such as ‘good v evil’ and local advertising such as its famous poster campaign in the UK. During a 21-year partnership with the agency Wieden and Kennedy, Nike has created some of the world’s most attention-grabbing advertising: for example, the Nike ‘good v evil’ campaign and two advertisements both for World Cups and the ad ‘tag’, last year’s Cannes grand prize winner. Other famous ads star Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi playing in the street of Manhattan; Tiger Woods playing; ‘keepy-uppy’ with a golf ball; and Brazil’s team playing soccer at the airport terminal. It is a remarkable body of work, both in its variety, daring and consistent originality. At Nike there is a streamlined decision-making process that gives marketing directors real power. They do not rely on market research pre-testing which often reduces the impact of more experimental commercials. There is also the long relationship with one of the world’s best ad agencies, and what Wieden describes as ‘an honesty about sport’. Things only happen in Nike ads that sportsmen and women can really do.
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‘My number one advertising principle - if I have one – is to wake up the consumer,’ concludes Knight, with an absolute conviction that is unique among modern-day chief executives. ’We have a high-risk strategy on advertising. When it works, it is more interesting. There really is no formula.’ 3. Answer the questions. 1 According to Phil Knight, what are the three factors which have led to the huge success of Nike? 2 Why did Nike lose market share in the mid 1980s? 3 Which innovation saved the company? 4 Which celebrity saved the company? 5 What is Phil Knight’s idea about advertising? 4. Which statements are true? Correct the false ones. a) Nike has been Advertiser of the year three times. b) Nike uses only worldwide advertising. c) Nike believes market research pre-testing is very important. d) A lot of computer tricks are used in Nike ads. 5. What are the advantages and disadvantages for a company of using celebrity endorsement in its advertising? 6. The article mentions an attention grabbling advertisement. This type of phrase is common in advertising. Match the words 1 to 6 to the words a) to f) to make word partnership. 1 energy 2 eye 3 thirst 4 money 5 mouth 6 brain
a) teasing b) saving c) watering d) catching e) quenching f) saving
7. Which of the word partnership in ex. 6 would you use to describe these products? a soft drink a fruit bar a computer quiz game
a low-power light bulb a range of smart clothing a range of supermarket own-brand products
Project work: You are members of an advertising team. Prepare an advertising campaign for one of the products or services given below.
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A sport car A high-priced, hand-finished model with a classic design. The car was popular in the 1950s and 60s. An American firm wants to re-launch it. (Target consumers will be high-income executives with a sense of fun and style). Aim: An international campaign, with advertising adapted to local markets. A perfume a unisex perfume, with biodegradable packaging. Produced by a well-known manufacturer. The company now wishes to enter the lower end of the market. Aim: Launch the perfume in an English-speaking country. A chain of eight London restaurants The restaurants (specializing in your national cuisine) are in prime position and offer extensive menus. They are reasonably priced, but are not attracting enough customers. Aim: A creative campaign to improve sales. A major bank The bank ( in an English-speaking country) wants to advertise the following new services: 1 Competitive low-interest mortgages 2 Direct telephone banking 3 A foreign travel service It has also asked your agency to suggest others. Aim: Develop loyalty among existing customers and attract new ones. - Working out the campaign, use the Key questions to help you. Prepare a Power Point presentation. - When you listen to others’ presentations, play the role of the company’s management. Listen and ask questions. Use the Assessment sheet to choose: a) the best campaign concept b) the most effective presentation Key questions • What is the campaign’s key message? • What special features does the product or service have? • What are its USPs (Unique Selling Points)? • Who is your target audience? • What media will you use? Several, or just one or two? If you use: an advertisement – write the text and do rough art work. a TV commercial – use a story board to illustrate your idea. a radio spot – write the script, including sound effects and music. other media – indicate what pictures, text, slogans, etc. will be used. • What other special promotions will you use at the start of the campaign? Английский язык для профессиональных целей: менеджмент и маркетинг
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Assessment sheet Give a score of 1-5 for each category CAMPAING CONCEPT
PRESENTATION
1 Will it get the target audience’s attention? 2 Will it capture their imagination? 3 Does it have a clear, effective message? 4 Will it differentiate the product or service? 5 Will it persuade the target audience to buy the product or service? 6 Will the target audience remember the campaign? Total: 30
1 Was it interesting? Did it impress you? 2 Was it clear? 3 Was there enough eye contact? 4 Was the pace too quick, too slow, or just right? 5 Was the language fluent, accurate and appropriate? 6 Was the voice clear enough? Was it varied in pitch or monotonous? Total: 30
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