剑桥商务英语高级

剑桥商务高级 Unit 1a I've just moved from a company with a very strict hierarchy to a fast-growing software company and it's been hard coming to terms with the changes. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy my new job a lot more. I have a lot more responsibility now and everything's done in project teams and managed by objectives. The one thing I do miss however, is that now, once a project's running, the team's pretty much on its own and left to solve any problems by itself. Before, there was always a superior I could turn to for help, and to be honest, I'd be much happier if that were still the case. Especially when you're starting a new job, having someone to talk to can make things a lot easier. I produce technical documents, you know, user's manuals and that sort of thing nothing creative, I'm afraid. Our team's responsible for its own work schedules. And as long as everything's finished before the machine's shipped, it's up to us when we do it. So you'd think with e-mail and everything, we'd all be able to work from home or come and go as we please but that's not the case. Unfortunately, it's a very conservative company so everyone's still clocking in and out at the same time. I suppose the managers have always worked a routine nine to five and just can't imagine anything else being possible. I'm an IT consultant and I'm working for a small leisure group on a one-year contract. So I'm travelling around Europe a lot, which I know sounds very glamorous, but it's just a case of jetting in, fixing a hotel's computer and then jetting out again. It also mean I'm on call and work very … shall we say ‘flexible' hours, including many weekends. Oh and I'm also responsible for the website, which I work on from home. What I miss is support from colleagues, you know, being able to discuss problems or things like the latest technology with other IT professionals in the same job. So, yes, it's definitely the social side of my job I'd like to improve. Well, I'm a temp and I'm working as a PA for a law firm in London just now. It's a medium-sized firm that's growth quickly so its organisation is very much like that of a smaller company. OK, I know it's unreasonable to expect a definite job description I mean, if something needs doing, then I think whoever's available should do it. But I'm already responsible for managing the diaries and correspondence of two senior managers, so when the telephone's ringing all day and people keep asking me to photocopy reports or even make them coffee, it just becomes impossible to get anything done. I work for the UK subsidiary of a Japanese company and it's very Japanese in terms of the way it's run. I've just got a new boss, who's come over from Japan. We seem to be getting on pretty well at the moment he always has time for me and gives me lots of support. The only thing is, I don't really have a huge say in what I do which is all right but sometimes it would be nice to be able to show a bit of initiative. Our work processes are totally standardized as fixed routines, which I don't mind. It's just that I always have to consult him before I can make even the smallest alteration to any job of any sort. Unit 1b I = Interviewer N = Neil I So, Neil, why did BT decide to introduce Options 2000? N Well, we started looking at flexible working back in 1993. And subsequent staff surveys showed that 96 per cent of our office-based staff wanted to work at home two or three days a week. We thought about how we could respond to this and soon realised that flexible working was very much a win-win-win situation. It's a win for technology, using our own products and practicing what we preach. And of course, it reduces BT's office space and cuts costs. But I think the real driver for change was accepting that our people wanted to work differently. I Right. And how many of them will actually end up working from home? N Our target's 10,000 by the end of the year. I 10,000! N Yes, that's out of about 55,000 office-based staff. I And what effect has this had on company structure? N Well, the company's been organised around business units for some time now. It used to be very much departmentalised, with work being done in series, you know, passed from one department to the next. But product life cycles are a lot shorter nowadays for the Internet, say, it's less than 6 months even. So people come together for a specific purpose and then go off to join new projects when the job's done. I So, these organisational changes must have had quite an effect on BT's culture. N Well, as I said, we've been developing a project-oriented culture. So, people now are paid for what they actually do and not for sitting at a desk from nine to five. But the really fundamental change is that we've become a lot more collaborative, both internally and in our dealings with partners and clients. And people are, of course, now getting used to working on several teams at once, which means they tend to get a lot more variety in their work as well. I Yes. And how about the technology? How do you help your teleworkers cope with it? N Well, people working from home have, I suppose, had to become more independent about coping with technology. But our corporate intranet is the largest in Europe and we've invested a lot of time and money in making sure there's enough on-line support for anyone using it. Oh, and there is some training available, of course. I And what's been the impact so far? N Well, it's difficult to say whether productivity's risen or not. But surveys show that since people have had access to work 24 hours a day, they've been working a lot longer days. In fact, we've just implemented a new training programme to help managers recognise this and deal with the situation. Because although some people might produce their best work under this kind of pressure, it's certainly not the case for everyone. I Was that one of the challenges when implementing the programme? N Yes, as was getting the general concept over. We've also had to adapt to the diversity of our flexible workers. It's not unusual, say, for 400 of them to be on the intranet at midnight. I Midnight? N Yes. I So, what happens when these people need stationery or when their computer crashes? N We've had to develop 24-hours, 365-day-a-year support services. I'd say that was probably our toughest challenge, actually. I And how have people adapted to working in these virtual teams? N Well, so far, very well. New teams usually meet at the start of a project. Of course, you can always find out about the other team members on the company intranet even before you meet them. After the first meeting, most communication is then done by e-mail, so we've had to work out guidelines on how to use e-mail, so we've had to work out guidelines on how to use e-mail more effectively. At the start we experienced some difficulties with people circulating far too much irrelevant information. And, of course, there's always one or two people who resist any form of change whatsoever. I And finally, how do you see the future of the office itself? N Well, I think flexible working's bound to increase but there'll always be a place for the office. There'll always be a need for face-to-face contact because even teams working remotely still need to get together every now and again to refocus. Being tied to the desk, however, is history. In future, mobile personal information systems will have all the tools we need for our jobs. The days of putting bits of paper in drawers are definitely numbered, I'm afraid. Unit 2a R = Richard K = Katie R Now, Internet stocks. They were going through the roof earlier this year until they ran into their recent difficulties. So the question is: has the bubble finally burst? Our technology correspondent Katie Johnson joins me in the studio. So Katie, first of all, what drove these prices up so high in the first place? K Well, all the hype about the Internet would have attracted some investors looking for a quick profit but I think the real driving force has been the fact that demand has far exceeded a limited supply. There were only a handful of Internet share offers last year, so opportunities to jump onto the Internet bandwagon have been very limited. R And all this is despite the fact they're far from what you'd call a safe investment. K Absolutely, yes. R But what about good old profits? Do they match the performance of the share prices? K Well, this is what's so fascinating. Take Amazon.com, for example, the Internet bookseller. They have a market value of $18bn, turnover in excess of $1bn, and yet they haven't even reached the break-even point. Apart from a couple of companies, such as Yahoo! And America Online, most of them are a long long way away from making any kind of profit whatsoever, never mind the huge profits everyone's hoping for. R So why on earth is everyone so keen to invest in them? K Well they're very trendy, and of course there's always the brand factor, which is another reason. Companies like Yahoo! And America Online now enjoy incredibly high brand awareness. But the real attraction is the tremendous potential for future revenue, particularly from advertising. Yahoo! Already has 144 million page hits a day and nearly 2,000 advertisers. And with Internet usage expected to double within five years, advertising spending is bound to increase. R But then how do analysts value these companies? K Well, it's not easy. They have few assets in the traditional sense and they all show phenomenal growth in terms of turnover, so analysts are having to rely on alternative yardsticks to compare them. R Such as? K Such as things like audience reach. Lycos, another search engine like Yahoo!, saw its shares jump by more than a third recently when figures came out saying it reached 45 per cent of all home Internet users. R So, let's turn to the recent collapse in these share prices. Has the bubble finally burst? K Well, we were due a sell-off, so it's not surprising that shareholders took advantage of the recent sharp rises. But I think what's really depressed prices is the flood of Internet companies that have floated recently and saturated the market with their hares. It seems that supply and demand are now leveling out. In fact, several companies have even seen their shares slide below the offer price. So, yes, enthusiasm does seem to be cooling. R Well, it seems to me that anyone investing in Internet shares is in for a bit of a rollercoaster ride. So just why I the market so volatile? K Well, it's a very young market, don't forget. And many companies have been listed for only a couple of months. Also, a lot of people who invest in these stocks actually use the Internet to trade on-line. Without the broker's commission, they can afford to buy in and out of stocks several times a day. This makes the market very sensitive to any breaking news. And I think it's this responsiveness which makes it so volatile. R So, Katie, the big question. What's the market going to do next? K Well, Richard, that's the million dollar question, isn't it? Some of the prices being paid do reflect the value of these companies so I can't really see prices falling much more. And although confidence will return, enthusiasm is cooling so don't expect to see prices soaring in the near future. R So how do you see the future for companies in this sector? K Well, I think the sector's going to see lots of consolidation activity as the bigger players look to buy talent and market share. Lycos, for example, has just acquired HotBot, one of its rivals. We'll also see one or two large established non-Internet companies looking to enter the market. The giant German publisher Bertelsmann, for example, has just entered into a joint venture with US bookseller Barnes and Noble to challenge Amazon's dominance on the Net. And if the Internet continues to grow like it is, then a few of these companies are bound to see substantial returns on their investments. Unit 2b Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Steve Brown from the Zeneca Public Affairs Department. I'm here today to tell you a little bit more about the merger between Zeneca and the Swedish pharmaceuticals company Astra. So, first of all, the boards of Astra and Zeneca have announced that there is to be an all-share merger of the two companies. The new company will be called AstraZeneca. I'll begin by going through the rationale for the merger and listing some of its benefits. Then I'll go on to give some details about the new board and talk about the financial effects of the merger. And finally, I'll give a brief summary of the terms, including details about dividends and so on. The merger is a natural step for both partners as they both share the same science-based culture as well as a common vision concerning the future of the industry. The benefits of this move are many. To begin with, the merged group will have an enhanced ability to create long-term growth and increased value for its shareholders. Furthermore, it'll be able to deliver the full potential of its existing and future products through the joint strength and worldwide presence of its global sales and marketing operations. In fact, based on the joint pharmaceutical sales for last year, the AstraZeneca group will be the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world. The combined strength of the two R&D functions will also ensure an excellent basis for innovation-led growth. With a combined R&D spend of nearly $2bn, AstraZeneca will one of the largest R&D organizations in the world, which will mean that the company will also be of great interest to academic institutions and biotech companies seeking partners for their research programmes. At a strategic level, management is hoping that the merger will create sizeable operational efficiencies by restructuring areas of duplication. It has been calculated that synergies resulting from the merger could lead to cost reductions of over a billion dollars within the next three years. Although this sounds like a somewhat optimistic figure, we are quite confident that it can be achieved through streamlining the workforce, particularly in areas like administration and a restructuring of the two sales operations. Moving on to the board now, the board of AstraZeneca will be drawn equally from the two companies, with Tom McKillop, the Chief Executive, running the company along with his executive team. The board will be headed by Percy Barnevik, the non-executive Chairman, whose job it will be to check that strategy and policy are periodically reviewed and agreement is maintained. The two deputy Chairmen, Sir David Barnes and Hakan Mogren, both have extensive experience of the pharmaceutical industry and business in general. They will be available to advise and support the Chief Executive as necessary. Unit 3b So, what's it like actually doing business with the Chinese? Well, it's difficult to describe because in China there's still no commonly shared perception of what's reasonable or normal in international business, so standards and expectations vary widely from place to place. That's why, when you're doing business in China, it's imperative that you do extensive preparatory work. This means finding out about the particular company, industry, city or region where you're doing business and not just about the country as a whole. One of the first things to remember is that the Chinese find it most discourteous if you are late for meetings. It may be, of course, that your first meeting will be in your hotel, but if not, then allow plenty of time for the journey as in most Chinese cities the congestion is every bit as bad as in London. A good tip is to take a business card with the company's address written in Chinese to show the taxi driver. When you get there, you will be greeted by your host, usually a senior manager, and probably some of his or her staff. The visitors will then be ushered into the meeting room. The leader of your group will be expected to enter first and will generally be offered a seat beside the most senior Chinese person present. This person will usually chair the meeting and act as host and have a translator at his or her side. To begin with, all those present will swap business cards, in itself a very important ceremony, and there will be a short period of small talk. The host will then officially start proceedings with a 'brief introduction' to the Chinese enterprise and its activities. The host may then invite the visiting team to speak. Now at this point it's appropriate for the UK side to begin to make its case. Don't forget to warn your host beforehand if you wish to include any audio-visual aids during this presentation. It's also extremely important that your team should be able to answer any questions on any aspect of your business proposal, your own company and your international competitors. Following the meeting, the Chinese enterprise will probably arrange a special dinner for the UK guests. Small talk over dinner is essential for relationship-building. For most Chinese, the family counts above all else. It remains the dominant social and political unit in Chinese society so Chinese people will usually be very pleased to be asked about their children and their hopes for their children's future. In social relationships Chinese people almost always seek to preserve harmony and face. Hosts believe it is their duty to offer their visitors hospitality, even though the visitors themselves may much prefer a day off after intense negotiations. It's very common, for instance, for the host enterprise to organize sightseeing trips for its guests and it would, of course, be a discourtesy not to accept these invitations. Unit 4a I = Interviewer J = Jan Dunn I So Jan, why did BA decide to move to Waterside? J Well, we had a lot of people scattered about in a lot of different buildings. British Airways has been around a long time so we've inherited a lot of old offices and buildings. Leases were running out on a lot of key buildings on the Heathrow site and we decided that rather than try to renew them, it would make more sense for us 200m project, it financially to build a new building on this site. So although it was a , was, in fact, a cost-effective move for BA. I But why such a radically different building? What was the main objective? J Well, we knew from opinion surveys that our work environment needed improving. When designing the building, we very much wanted to realise a vision which was team-based and spaced, one that involved bringing people together in an open working environment. We now have an excellent facility where people can meet and work anywhere in the building. And by centralizing our information and data, we can now work together much more effectively than before. We also looked at informality and ways of reducing hierarchy. I Such as? J Physically, we used to have a very hierarchical set-up. PAs, for example, used to sit right outside the manager's office and we questioned whether that kind of system really helped the way we worked. We also looked at things like the size and purpose of office space. And we made small changes like not allocating executive parking. I So, how is the building laid out? J Right, the building itself was designed around a village structure. What we've got is a central street with six houses coming off it. It's designed so residents, that's the people who work here, park in a secure area beneath the building and then come up through the street. This means they have to walk through the street to get to their place of work, wherever that might be that day. And the idea there was very much, and it does work, that we would all be very visible and we would stop and talk or bump into each other at the shop or the bank. So, again, everyone, whatever their level, comes through the building the same way. I So, if someone can be working anywhere in the building, how do you find them? J It's very simple. All the phones in the building are dumb terminals. So, wherever I am in the building, I can log into the system as 95001, which activates that particular terminal and directs all my calls to it. So I'm always 95001, whether I'm in the building or even at home. We also have voice mail and an electronic diary system just in case people are unavailable. And obviously there are maps in the street and information points as well. I Going back to the street for a moment, I noticed there are lots of high street facilities. What was the thinking behind that? J Well, it's very clear that people need to do things like pop to the bank or pick up shopping or whatever. Normally if you want to do those things, you're going to have to dash out at lunchtime or after work. So what we've done is identify what people need to do and we've just made them available on site. It's a convenience thing, that's all. I Oh right. Yes, that's handy. Now I believe you've also looked at changing the meetings culture. J Yes, we're encouraging people on the classics really: making sure you need to meeting and that you're inviting the right people. I suppose we're suggesting that we wouldn't expect a useful meeting to be bigger than say 20 people. But we've got a lot of flexibility. I can choose a location suited to the type of meeting I want to run. There's everything from the cafes and informal meeting rooms right up to the theatre, which seats 400 people. I So what difference has Waterside made to your typical day? J Right, well, first thing in the morning I have a choice of whether I come into Waterside or not because I've got a laptop and access to the computer network from home or from other sites. So what I've tended to do is try and book meetings all on the same day if I can as it cuts down my travelling time basically. And if I do come into Waterside, I've just got more options. I really feel I get things done quicker and more effectively and that I'm making better use of my time. Unit 4b Well, it's already made a huge impact and by the time the project's fully implemented, we'll have networked over 300,000 employees and suppliers - they'll all the able to communicate through e-mail. And it's this interconnectivity, it's changing everything about they way we work. I mean, last year around 15 per cent of our in-service staff development was carried out through Web-based distance learning using the company intranet. And we reckon that for every 1,000 days of classroom-based teaching that's supplied by distance learning, it generates about $500,000 in efficiency gains. And this year we'll be delivering up to 30 per cent of our courses by distance learning. So we'll be looking at savings of over $100 million. We're one of the largest insurance organizations in Canada, offering a wide range of financial products. We rely on a system of independent agents to distribute our products so it's really important to maintain a close relationship with them. This used to be done over the telephone but that was all very time-consuming for our employees and meant we could only supply agents with information during office hours. Now we have the extranet, which means that all our representatives can keep in touch around the clock and get the latest information about offerings. They can also request back-up articles and information such as telemarketing scripts and advertisements. And of course, we'll be introducing more and more new product lines so it's essential that our agents get the back-up they need. We're one of the Netherlands' leading banks with 1,300 branches here and abroad. We deal with both businesses and consumers but our primary focus is small and medium-sized businesses - SMBs as we call them. As part of our offering to SMBs, we recently launched a Web-based euro project which provides free briefings to both customers and staff about the new European currency. Since the issues surrounding the euro will constantly be changing, people will need regular updating. By providing up-to-the-minute bulletins, we're establishing ourselves as a major player in the Eurozone countries. This, in turn, is enhancing our clients' perceptions of us and strengthening our customer base. Well, we are one of France's most prestigious bicycle manufacturers, selling mainly to professionals and people with a real passion for cycling as a sport. The best bit about our new website is that it lets customers actually design their own personalized cyber cycle. All they have to do is choose a basic model and then decide what frame, wheels, pedals, colour and so on they want. They pay on-line by credit card and the bike is then delivered to their nearest dealer within 14 days. It's as simple as that. Our business was initially aimed at mostly French customers but with the new way of using the Internet, we have been able to create an international presence at a fraction of what it would have cost to advertise outside the domestic market. After recent restructuring we felt we needed to change the company culture to reflect our leaner structure. Processes that used to be highly bureaucratized needed to be simplified. One area we really had to tackle was procurement. After filling in massive amounts of paperwork, getting requisite signatures and then faxing orders off, our employees sometimes had to wait over a month for things like office material and PCs to get here. A real advantage with the new system is there's less margin for error because if the form isn't filled in correctly, then the system says so immediately. So less time'll be wasted on sorting out problems. By the end of the year we'll have reduced our paper invoices from five million to zero. Unit 6a I = Interviewer G = Goran Nilsson I And now to IKEA. The Swedish furniture retailer has just reported turnover of 56 billion Swedish kroner from its 150 stores worldwide. Now, IKEA puts its success down to corporate culture. So with me today to explain the secret of IKEA's culture is Managing Director of IKEA UK, Goran Nilsson. Good morning, Mr. Nilsson. G Good morning. I Now is every IKEA store really exactly the same? G Well, in terms of culture they're pretty well uniform. Although our culture will naturally bond with the local culture to some extent, our core values such as simplicity and cost-consciousness are valid in all cultures. So we don't need to adapt the way we operate to run our stores. And as for products, although we make some minor adaptations to suit local tastes, we produce exactly the same catalogue in all 28 countries. I And where do these values originate? G It all goes back to Sweden in the 50s and 60s. IKEA's founder, Ingvar Kamprad, started the company at a time of democratic and social change … I Are IKEA's values those of its founder, then? G Well, they have evolved over the last 57 years, of course, but I think our mission statement 'A better life for the majority of people's still very much reflects the spirit of those early years. Having said that though, I think Ingvar's ability to relate to a co-worker in China today would be pretty limited, thought. I You mentioned China. How does IKEA cope with such diversity amongst its employees? G Well, funnily enough, I've been working for IKEA for 15 years in Sweden, Italy, Canada, the USA and what's struck me most is how much we have in common. People may interpret certain concepts such as responsibility and freedom differently but our core values such as humbleness exist in every country. I So, what are the advantages of such a strong corporate culture? G They're tremendous. For one, there's a real bond between our operations around the world. It's easy to transfer across borders because you know the values will be exactly the same. And from a marketing and positioning point of view it's very advantageous as well. But the real pay-off is that it makes IKEA unique. You can clone our products and our store concept but not our culture. It takes years to build and it has to be maintained daily. I But how do you educate 40,000 workers? G We begin by making sure people understand the values. That's why the IKEA Way seminars are so vital. All managers attend them and then it's their responsibility to pass the message on. Corporate culture also figures in meetings … I Do you use educational videos and brochures as well? G Videos and brochures are helpful tools but only if used in conjunction with 'walking the talk' and discussing values with management. We have various initiatives which regularly provide co-workers with the opportunity to participate and contribute to these discussions. I So, does culture affect IKEA's recruitment process? G It has a major impact. Although it's important for us to get highly-skilled people into the company, we're not interested if there's a conflict of value systems. Anyone expecting a flash car or status symbols has no future with us. Recruitment at IKEA's an extensive process, based on judgements about a candidate's value systems and attributes. We can add retail skills, no problem, but it's tough to change someone's mindset. I Does that go for career advancement too? G Yes, it does. I So Swedish managers will always have more chance of promotion then? G We find that many Scandinavians identify more easily with our culture but there is no written or unwritten rule concerning the nationality of senior managers. It would be impossible, however, for anyone to advance within IKEA without wholly understanding and buying into the company's philosophy and culture. So managers are encouraged to visit Sweden and learn the language etc. and management inductions include at least one week in Almhult, where the company began. I And finally, Ingvar Kamprad stepped down as President in the mid-80s, replaced by Anders Moberg. What effect did this have on the development of IKEA's culture? G Both Moberg and our current Chief Executive, Anders Dahlvig, worked closely with Kamprad for many years and have a deep knowledge and understanding of Kamprad's original vision and philosophy. Naturally, IKEA is different today than it was 10 years ago, primarily because it is three times bigger and has entered many more diverse and challenging markets. But our values and mission to provide quality, affordable products for the majority of people remain very much in situ. Unit 7a J = Jill O = Oliver R = Rick J Good morning. Sorry I'm a little late. How did the board meeting go yesterday? O I didn't know there was a board meeting planned for yesterday. R There wasn't. It was an emergency meeting. O Emergency? Sounds exciting. What's the problem? R That's what we're here to talk about this morning. Close the door, would you Jill? J Yes, of course. R Thanks. Right, as you may know, we've lost several major contracts this year to Centronics, our biggest rival. Each time they've targeted the customer just as their contracts were up for renewal. J Are you saying they've somehow got access to our files? R Well, one of our customers was still loyal enough to inform us that Centronics seemed to have god information about the terms and conditions of their contract with us. O But surely, you don't think that someone's passing on that kind of information? R We don't know. That's the problem. And that's what we've got to find out. If there genuinely is a problem, then we'll have to find out whether Centronics has infiltrated us or whether it's an inside job. So, we need to look at our systems and our people – and that's why you're both here. O So, what did you have in mind, Rick? R Well, first of all, Oliver, could someone have hacked into our intranet from outside? O Hack into the intranet? I doubt it. We've got pretty up-to-date security on the system. J Which means it's probably on inside job, right? Any ideas who it might be? R If I knew that, we wouldn't be here. So, we'll need to check out everyone who's joined us in the last 12 months. J The last 12 months? You don't think Centronics has placed a spy here, do you? R I'm not sure what to think, Jill. But we should check out their CVs anyway. J But it'll take ages if we do that. Beside, their references would have been checked at the time anyway. R I know, but what about their previous employers? Were they checked? J Well … we … we don't normally … R Exactly. I think it'd also be a good idea if you looked back at your appraisal records. See if you can find anyone who's disgruntled or making noises about wanting more money … J Do you mean for the whole company or just Sales? R Well, start with Sales and then keep looking if you don't find anything. We've got to be thorough on this one. The board's taking it very seriously. Oliver, on the systems side of things, what can we do? O Well, I guess the first thing is to look at access. You know, see who's got access to what information. R Could you report back to me on that as soon as possible? O Sure. And I suppose I could also issue individual passwords so … R That's true. And then we'd know exactly who was logging on, wouldn't we? O And what they were looking at and when they were logging on. J How about e-mail? Can we check people's e-mail? O No problem, it's all automatically archived on the server. I'll get printouts for you, Rick. J And if I could see them, too, I could see who's dissatisfied and have a look at their appraisal notes and their personal record file. O OK. J That way I should be able to get an idea as to whether anyone's bearing a grudge. O Good idea, Jill. OK, do that. But make sure you do it discreetly. If word got out about this, then whoever's doing it would stop and destroy the evidence. J That's true. It wouldn't do much for morale either. O Which is already low enough around here at the moment. R Yes, this isn't exactly what we needed right now, is it? J What if we don't come up with anything, what are we going to do then? R The board's thinking about bringing in a security consultant. She'd pose as a temp in the Sales Department - you know, talk to people and get the gossip, find out who's unhappy and that kind of thing. J But I don't see the point. How would she be able to find out anything that we couldn't? O And it'd certainly go down well in sales if they found out about it. R Yes, well … Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Unit 7b I suppose, in a way, it's a kind of generation thing. When George started, there was no such thing as political correctness in the office environment. In those days, I'm sure it was common practice to call colleagues 'love' or 'darling', pay compliments about their figures or even give them gifts and things. But you just can't do that nowadays and he should have known better. He says his secretary never complained about it to him in person and that if she had, he'd have stopped doing it, but she didn't. Instead, she went straight to the board and warned them that she'd take legal action if nothing was done abut it. Well, they soon hauled George in and explained the situation. George was outraged and told them what they could do with the job there and then. If you'd looked around the workplace, I guess you would have seen the evidence. I mean, in a company of this size you would have expected to see at least some ethnic diversity in the workplace, wouldn't you? Anyway, someone finally discovered a secret file with all the applicants who were not given an interview. Whoever it was blew the whistle to the local press and that was it the company was faced with a PR disaster and a police investigation. Of course, the first thing the board did was give the well-paid HR executive his marching orders and insist that it was his prejudice and not company policy. But if that was the case, then why hadn't they noticed what was going on? I'm sure Sharleen didn't think she was doing anything wrong at the time. She'd been told to put together a report on the market penetration of a new safety product we'd just launched. So she had to find out how much business our main rival was doing. OK, so hacking into their corporate intranet wasn't the right way of going about it but no-one realised she was a complete whizzkid. Luckily, they didn't find out what happened. If they had, it would have cost us a fortune. You can imagine everyone's reaction when she announced what she'd done. Our Ethics Officer went mad and had to quickly put together an official code for dealing with competitors. As for Sharleen, well, she just got away without even so much as an official warning! We'd been doing business with them for years and our sales executives had always enjoyed very good relationships with them. I don't think for one minute it would have made any difference if we hadn't offered them the occasional thank you for their business. But we always thought of it as good customer relationship management. What's wrong with the odd weekend away for a loyal customer? Anyway, the new CEO changed all that. Maybe it was a cultural thing, I don't know, but she suspended all freebies pending a review. She also recruited someone to regulate dealings with our clients a sort of moral policeman, I guess. She even wrote to all our customers warning them not to accept any kind of presents from any of our reps. Every business wants to be ethically sound but it's a hyper-competitive world out there and when you're under pressure to make money and keep to a budget, it's a different matter. Pete, the Production Manager, didn't like the new regulation spray paint it just wasn't as good so he carried on using the old stuff. He knew there'd be trouble if anyone found out. But I guess he just hoped they wouldn't. Of course, some campaigners tested the local water and found evidence of the banned chemicals. I suppose when you think about the PR nightmare that followed and the hefty fine the company had to pay, Pete was lucky to get away with just a letter threatening dismissal if he used the old paint ever again. Unit 8a With more mergers and acquisitions than ever before, I think it's becoming quite clear that a company in the future will need to have a global presence in order to compete in tomorrow's market place. This presence can give a company many competitive advantages. To begin with, say, it can give access to local market knowledge, which can avoid some very, very expensive mistakes on account of cultural conflicts. Once more, it can spread the risk of doing business. If a company sells to more than one market, it can survive a downturn in any one of those markets, that's quite clear. And if a company becomes truly global, it can move its production around from country to country and take advantage of the best conditions at any given time. And the size of the company means it can realise economies of scale in advertising or distribution or shipping, for example. So I think, all in all, when these things are taken into consideration, it's quite clear that any company not looking to establish a global presence in future may not have a future. How to promote an imported brand With so many people these days making a conscious decision to buy domestic products, the pressure on those companies wishing to promote imported brands is greater than ever before. Initially, a company needs to show how their product is superior to the local equivalents. Maybe it's better quality; maybe it's more stylish. A company needs to show customers the benefits of being more adventurous in their buying decisions to encourage them to move away from the current products they us. If you market a product as something exotic or unusual, you're bound to attract new clients. Cultural stereotypes are also a powerful selling tool. A cosmetics range associated with French chic, for example, is bound to attract customers. And if people are looking to buy a reliable car, there's no better label than 'made in Germany'. These national associations can also be exploited at the point of sale. Playing French music in supermarkets, for example, is proven to improve the sales of French wine. Basically, if you want to successfully promote an imported brand, you need to give your customers a good reason to try something a little bit more exciting than their own home brands. The importance of stereotypes in advertising Well, stereotypes are useful to advertisers because they're basically a shorthand. You've got thirty seconds to get your main selling point across. And with a stereotype you can establish a theme in two. A stereotype is consistent and easily identifiable to a whole national group. When a German audience see a Scotsman in a kilt, they instantly know that the ad is going to be about economy. And they can make us feel good about our own value systems or customs. We might pit a refined Englishman against a brash New Yorker and that'll give the impression that the product we're selling is obviously full of taste and discretion. And of course, in this way, stereotypes are often identified with positive qualities. For example, the German Audi designers in white lab coats are obviously obsessed with perfection. And so we can guarantee that any product we buy from them is going to be designed to perfection. And lastly, stereotypes make good comedy because everybody wants to laugh at other countries and people who are different. And of course, if they've had a laugh, they're more likely to remember the advert. Unit 8b I = Interviewer C = Craig I We keep hearing all about the globalisation of markets and supply chains and so on but why has global sourcing suddenly become so widespread? C Well, I think there are several factors, really. I mean, as companies expand internationally their outlook becomes increasingly global. What's more, hyper-competitive domestic markets have driven companies to look further afield in their search for competitive advantage. Although I think the process has really been accelerated by rapid advances in IT and telecoms. That's been the real catalyst for change. I And what's the great attraction? Why are companies so keen to source abroad? C It depends on the circumstances of the company in question. It could be anything from better access to overseas markets, lower taxes, lower labor costs, quicker delivery or a combination of any of these. I But it would be fair to say the financial benefits are the main incentive, wouldn't? C In most cases it probably would, yes. Without them, I suppose few companies would be that interested. But there are risks involved as well, you know. I And what are those risks? C Well, the most common mistake companies make is they only see the savings and don't bother to think about the effect on other key criteria like quality and delivery. A clothing company that only buys from Asian suppliers at low cost, for instance, will find that as labour rates increase over time, it'll have to island hop to find new low cost sites. And this, of course, introduces uncertainty about quality and that's critical for a clothing company. There are other possible risks as well. I Such as? C Well, such as negative publicity as a result of poor working conditions in the supplier's country. And, of curse, there's always currency exchange risk. I So how do you go about weighing up all these factors and choosing a supplier? C It's crucial that companies know precisely what they're after from a supplier and that they fully understand their key selection criteria. They need to be careful to define them and make sure they're measurable and then rank them. It's dangerous selecting a particular supplier just because they happen to deliver outstanding performance in one objective such as cost or flexibility. I So, having selected a prospective partner, what then? C Well, then you have to negotiate how closely the two parties need to work together. If it's going to be a long-term relationship, you need to discuss how much sharing of information and resources will be necessary to extract maximum value from the collaboration. The prospective partners need to sit down and decide on the best form for the relationship to take. I And what's the most common form of this relationship? C Well, once again it depends on individual circumstances. The relationship can b anything, I suppose, from complete ownership through strategic alliances to buying the market. I Buying the market? What's that? C That's when companies just publish their specifications and ask prequalified vendors to bid for the contract. General Electric is currently doing $1bn of business this way over the Internet. It's a short-term deal with almost no interaction with the supplier and the length of the bidding process is cut by half. But most importantly for companies like GE, order processing is $5 an order as opposed to $50 when it's done on paper. I You mentioned strategic alliances. When d they make sense? C Well, for an aircraft manufacturer like Boeing, for example, an alliance with is engine manufacturers is logical because of the complex interaction between the body of the aircraft and its engines. And this complexity means everything has to be developed together. The arrangement also has the added bonus of reducing the financial risk of long-term development programmes. I And how about actually owning the supplier, then? When is that preferable? C Well, companies take over suppliers when they're vulnerable to fluctuations in the availability of key supplies. Take Du Pont, for example, the chemicals giant. Since oil is a primary ingredient of many of its products, Du Point is very much affected by the availability, and therefore cost, of oil. Du Pont reduced these uncertainties by purchasing Conoco, its main oil supplier. I Thus keeping its costs down. C Possibly. Owning the supplier definitely increases financial control of the supply chain. But when you take the cost of acquisition into account, there are no short-term savings. I So, all in all, does global sourcing make sense? C Well, there are lots of very powerful benefits but managers have to consider all the main operational factors very carefully first.