Файл: focus on business english.pdf

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itself via the Coke brand, using slogans such as ‘Coke is it’, now wants to inform 

consumers that Coke is not the only drink it sells. Its most recent campaign, 

called ‘Make every drop count’, says: ‘You’ve always known us as Coca-Cola, 
the soft drink. Now it’s time you knew us as Coca-Cola the company.’ 

The television, print and Internet advertisements in the UK come at a time 

when consumers are ditching foods and drinks that are perceived as unhealthy 

(such 20 as sugary fizzy drinks and salty crisps) for products that appear to offer 

some kind of health benefit. 

Coke is using the new campaign to impress upon consumers the fact that it 

sells all kinds of drinks, including bottled water, juices and teas. The campaign is 

important for the company, because it risks losing money if it does not sell the 30 
kinds of drinks consumers now want to buy. 

Analysts say that growing demand for healthier kinds of foods and drinks is 

not a fashion, but a long-term trend that increasingly affects corporate profits.  

Companies which benefit are those that already produce the kinds of prod-

ucts consumers want, or companies that are taking steps to adapt existing prod-

ucts. These include Danone, the French company, as well as Swiss food company 

Nestle, which has made nutritional foods a core strategic focus. 

Companies that do not meet consumer needs are suffering. In March, Asda 

took the juice drink Sunny D (previously known as Sunny Delight) off its shelves 

after ending its customers did not want to buy. 

From 

the

Financial Times 

COMPREHENSION

1. 

Number the paragraphs in the correct order. Two summaries are not used.

a). Companies need to change, as healthy foods 
here to stay. 

b). Coke needs to inform customers about its 

whole product range. 

c). Unfortunately, if companies do not change, 

they will find it very difficult to survive. 

d). If customers fail to recognise Coke’s whole 

range of products, the company will face 

financial problems. 

e). Advertisements for healthy products are 

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very popular. 

f). The campaign is well timed, as people want 

more healthy products.? 

g). Many companies are benefiting from a bigger 

market share. 
 

2. Match the terms (1-8) to their definitions (a-e). 

1. 

tactics 

a). seen or believed to be 

2. 

slogan 

b). Make someone 

3. 

ditching 

understand something 

4. 

Perceive das  c). Change or modify 

5. 

Impress upon   

something 

6. 

adapt 

d). the centre or heart of 

7. 

core 

something 

8. 

suffering 

e). a saying to catch your 

attention in an ad 

f). doing badly, failing 

g). approach 

h). dropping or rejecting 

FOLLOW UP 

 
1. Think of marketing changes for your company: what are they? Why do 

you need changes? 

2.Rank marketing changes in order of importance.  

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UNIT 4 

CAREERS 

START UP 

1. Do you have training schemes in your country?  

2.What benefits do you think there are for the employee of  training 

schemes? 

3. What are the advantages of working your way up through a company? 

VOCABULARY 

1. Write one word in each gap to fill in the text. You may choose to use 

some words more than once. 

with 

 from 

in 

 as 

 for 

 at 

My name is Jean Wilson and I have just started working 

in

 a bank. I gradu-

ated……... Edinburg University last year with a degree …..Business and Man-

agement. Now I am going to train …. an accountant.  I think I will do well be-

cause I am  good …….figures and I am skilled ………computers. I think that 

training 

……. specific job will be more interesting than the general education 

I got at university. 

2. Choose the best word from the brackets to fill in the gap. 

1. Everyone should stay in full-time 

education 

until they are at least 18 

(school / education). 

2. Of course the qualifications are important but they are not everything 

(printed / paper). 

3. I look for people with lots of relevant ……..experience (job / work). 

4. Last year we spent over $ 50, 000 on management ……..(experience / de-

velopment). 

5. We value people who are highly …… 

and want to get on (motivated / 

graduated). 

6. Tom gets on well with everyone. He is great team ……..(person / player). 

LISTENING 

4.1 Dr Simon Kingston works for the International executive search con-

sultants Heidrick and Struggles. Listen to the interview with him and answer 
the questions.  

1. What is common in the careers of successful people? 

2.What distinguishes really successful people from those who are average in 

their professions? 

3.What qualities does Lord Brown at BP demonstrate? 

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Listen to the interview again and

complete the summary below.

One common theme in the careers of a lot of successful people is an ……….    

……….(1) of the individual’s own ……..   ……..   ……….(2). This allows them 
to ……… (3) the sort of organisations in which they will work. It also allows 
them to ……..   ………(4) but appropriately to opportunities that are unplanned 
that present themselves. 

READING 

 
1. Discuss these questions. 

1. Can you name some of the major retail banks in your  country? 
2. What special skills do you think you need to work in a bank?

3. Do you think that working in a bank is a high- or low-status kind of job? 
 

2. Read the two articles from the Financial Times and answer the ques-

tions. 

3. Article 1: Retail Banking: Appeal of the Softer Side 

of the Business 

By

 Clare Gascoigne

Retail banking used to be an aspirational career. But as the banks have 

changed, so has the attraction. ‘Graduates have to be led into thinking about retail 
banking,’ says Terry Jones of the Association of Graduate Career Advisory Ser-
vices. ‘They think first about the investment banks »o or accountancy - they think 
retail is not as interesting as working on mergers and acquisitions or trading.’ 

He may be right. High-street bank is managers are no longer as respected as 

they used to be. Staffare much more concerned with selling products and finan-
cial services, and much of the customer contact has moved to big call centres or 
the Internet. ‘The work feels relatively low status,’ says Mr Jones. 

However, the banks don’t feel the same way. 'We are looking for people 

who are customer driven, who can form good working relationships and lead 
sales teams,’ says John Morewood,  senior manager for graduate recruiting at 
HSBC. ‘We look for graduates who have had experience of working with cus-
tomers HSBC is typical of the high-street banks in running two main graduate 
schemes. The executive management scheme is a two-year development pro-
gramme that  aims to put graduates into leadership role. It takes between 25 and 
30 every year. ‘These people have the potential to go very high,’ says Mr More-
wood. ‘We are looking for strategic thinkers.’ 

The second scheme, which is more concerned with retail commercial bank-

ing, takes between 120 and 150 people a year an gives graduates responsibility 
much earlier. 

From the 

Financial Times 

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COMPREHENSION

 
1. Choose the correct meaning for the word in italics. 

a)

'Banking used to be an 

aspirational

 career’ (line 2) means people 

i)

wanted to work in that sector because it was highly respected. 

ii)

knew they would get excellent training in that sector. 

b)

A 

call centre

 (line 21) is where customers can 

i)

meet employees. 

ii)

speak to staff on the phone. 

c)

‘The work feel relatively 

low status'

 (line 22) means 

i)

it is not considered to be very important. 

ii)

the job is easy to do. 

d)

‘We are looking for 

strategic thinkers’

 (line 45) means people who 

i)

can make decisions quickly. 

ii)

are able to make top-level decisions. 

iii)

2.

True or false?

a)

Retail banking is not as attractive as it used to be. 

b)

Graduates prefer to work in other financial areas. 

c)

Retail banking staff have to sell products and financial services. 

d)

Banks are not interested in recruits with customer experience. 

e)

The executive management scheme lasts three years. 

f)

This scheme is training people for high-level positions. 

g)

More people are recruited on HSBC's second scheme. 

Article 2: Cost-effective route to create future managers

Andrew Taylor 
 
Mike Turner, chief executive of BAE Systems, Europe’s biggest defence 

company, and a member of the Apprenticeships Task Force, is a prime example 
of how starting at the bottom of the corporate ladder can lead to a top job. ‘I be-
gan my working life as an apprentice,’ said Mr Turner, who ' argues that appren-
ticeships remain one of the most cost- effective ways of filling skill shortages, as 
well as developing managers of the future. 

According to the task force’s report, published today, BAE expects to save 

up to £lm a year by training apprentices rather than hiring and retraining outside 

го

 workers, ‘as apprenticeships cost 25 per cent less than training non-

apprentices’. 

It is ‘much more attractive to recruit young people as apprentices, as re-

cruitment costs are lower, staff turnover is lower and apprentices quickly identi-
fied with company values’, according to the task force. 

ВТ

, the telecommunica-

tions group, for example, had ‘calculated a benefit of over £1,300 per apprentice 
per annum when compared to non-apprentice recruitment’.