Reading 1 hour
PART ONE
Questions 1 – 8
l Look at the statements below and at the five extracts on the opposite page from an article giving advice to self-employed consultants about negotiating fees for their services.
l Which book (A, B, C,D or E) dose each statement 1 –8 refer to ?
l For each statement ! – 8, make one letter (A, B, C,D or E) on your Answer Sheet .
l You will need to use some of these letters more than once .
1 Trying to negotiate is only worthwhile if there is the prospect of success.
2 The best result of negotiation is when both parties have a sense of satisfaction.
3 Accepting a lower fee might have benefits in the future.
4 It is important to know how much other people are charging for similar work.
5 You should ask for a fee in excess of what you expect to get.
6 Offer the other party incentives to agree to your fee.
7 Other people’s reactions to you are influenced by your body language.
8 It may become obvious that you have come to regret a deal you have made.
A
You’re in danger of selling yourself short if you don’t know where the goalposts are, especially when you’re negotiating with a new client. Research the market and find out the going rate. You can do this by networking contacts or talking to small business advisers. Alternatively, ask the competition. Of course your rivals may not tell you, but there’s no harm in asking. Another prerequisite is learning to recognize when there’s scope for negotiation, because without it, you can waste a great deal of time and energy.
B
Know the amount you would really like, slightly above what you think they will offer and above what you’d be happy to settle for. Also, know your trade-offs. Create a wish list of all the things you’d like to receive if you lived in a perfect world. That way, if the other side want you to move from your preferred or opening position on an issue to a position nearer the bottom line, you can move in exchange for something from your wish list.
C
People who are nervous about negotiating over money often let fear tell them they’re no good at these discussions and not worth the fee. You literally can’t afford the luxury of a single negotiating thought. Stand up when making negotiating phone calls: it will make you fell more powerful. If you’re face to face, make steady eye contact, keep your head up and your hands still – these all suggest assertiveness, rather than aggressiveness or passivity, and you’ll be surprised at how much this affects the way that you come across in the negotiation.
D
You have to know the price below which it would be uneconomical for you to do a job. This could vary from job to job - you may be prepared to do some cheaper in the hope that they’ll lead to better things. But don’t be talked below your bottom line and end up working for nothing. After all, in the long term, there’s little point in agreeing to something that you’re not happy with: you’re likely to feel resentful, and this might even come across in your behaviour.
E
When negotiating money, there may be non-financial factors you can throw into the mix. For example, why not say, ‘If you pay me such and such, I’ll include a report on the company for you’. Plan these extras beforehand. Make sure that they won’t take forever to do, but are things of value to the other side. This way, you can achieve the ideal outcome: you appear to accept compromise when in fact you’ve got everything you wanted, and they’ll think they got the better of the deal.
PART TWO
Questions9– 14
l Read the text about training progammes.
l Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps .
l For each gap 9– 14, mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet .
l Do not use any letter more than once .
l There is an example at the beginning .(0)
REAL TRAINING FOR ALL-ACTION MANAGERS
Learning by doing is familiar to every manager sent on a training course. Invariably this involves role-play based on studies of long-ago triumphs and disasters from a relevant industry or organization. (0)_H_ The problem is, any experience of decision-making gained from role-play has one obvious shortcoming: it is not real life.
To tackle this dilemma, some of the best-known companies have set up the International Management Development Consortium, which provides a range of executive development programmes for staff members. (9)____ What this means is that they involve ‘action learning’ through real-life situations, and participants work as problem-solving consultants on projects within companies engaged in day-to-day business.
(10)____ Within this they also take training and refresher courses in traditional business skills such as finance, marketing, staff management and strategic planning. These disciplines are taught by a mix of academics, business people and senior managers from Consortium companies who also monitor the consultancy work.
More than 100 of these consultancy projects have been undertaken so far, and many more are to come. (11)____ Generally, those who choose to attend the course come from various countries, reflecting the multi-national nature of companies within the Consortium. (12)____ As a result of this cross-cultural exchange, the people on the course learn a great deal from each other- and often keep in contact on a professional level long after the end of their course.
The Consortium says language difficulties are not a problem when consultancies are undertaken for foreign companies on site. A translator is on hand to deal with difficulties which arise from technical terms or jargon.
(13)____ This is because they are not charged consultancy fees, although a nominal sum is payable for administration. The funding for the scheme is provided by each Consortium member who contributes to the cost of running the training courses, and the amount involved is considerably less than fees charged by leading business schools. (14)____ ‘it is,’ says the Chairman, ‘a real learning experience with techniques that can easily be used back at work..’
A They are being offered by companies who are aware of the benefits of the range of knowledge offered by the people on the course.
B As well as the savings, there are also the dividends it pays in the form of improved staff performance.
C The difference between these programmes and the average executive course, however, is that these courses are based on the concept of ‘live’ consultancy.
D In this way, participants can also benchmark themselves against the best members from a range of Consortium companies.
E This means that within every training group there will be a wide variety of experience, which is discussed and explored by the group.
F Typically, groups of up to six course members undertake projects as part of this development programme.
G Another major advantage is that these companies usually get their problems solved very cheaply.
H Managers are typically cast as key figures in these dramas, the comparisons are made later between how they dealt with the fictional situation and the actual event.
PART THREE
Questions 15– 20
l Read the following article about business schools and the questions on the opposite page .
l For each question 15 – 20 , mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
In terms of pure quantity of research and debate, business schools have performed amazingly in promoting management as a distinctive activity. No other discipline has produced as much in such a short period. It is unclear yet how much of it will stand the test of time, but for sheer industry, the business school deserve credit. Not a day goes by without another wave of research papers, books, articles, and journals.
In these terms, schools have produced a generally accepted theoretical basis for management. When it comes to knowledge creation, however, they find themselves in difficulties. They are caught between the need for academic rigour and for real-world business relevance, which tend to pull in opposite directions. The desire to establish management as a credible discipline leads to research that panders to traditional academic criteria. The problem for business school researchers is that they seek the approval of their academic peers rather than the business community. In the United States this has led to the sort of grand ‘paper clip counting’ exercises that meet demands for academic rigour but fail to add one iota to the real sum of human knowledge.
Business schools have too often allowed the constraints of the academic world to cloud their view of the real world. Business school researchers seek provable theories – rather than helpful theories. They have championed a prescriptive approach to management based on analysis and, more recently, on fashionable ideas that soon disappear into the ether. The ‘one best way’ approach encourages researchers to mould the idiosyncrasies of managerial reality into their tightly defined models of behaviour. Figures and statistics are fitted into linear equations and tidy models. Economists and other social scientists label this cure smoothing. Meanwhile, reality continually refuses to co-operate.
Central to this is the tension between relevance and rigour. In a perfect world, there would be no need to choose between the two. But in the business school world, the need to satisfy academic criteria and be published in journals often tilts the balance away from relevance. In other words, it is often easier to pursue quantifiable objectives than it is to add anything useful to the debate about management. To a large extent, the entire business school system works against useful, knowledge-creating research. Academics have five years in which to prove themselves if they are to make the academic grade. It seems long enough. But it can take two or even three years to get into a suitable journal. They therefore have around three years, probably less, to come up with an area of interest and carry out meaningful and original research. This is a demanding timescale. The temptation must be to slice up old data in new ways rather than pursue genuinely groundbreaking, innovative research.
It is a criticism also made by some business school insiders. “Academic journals tend to find more and more techniques for testing more and more obscure theories. They are asking trivial questions and answering them exactly. There has to be a backlash,” says Julian Birkinshaw of London Business School. In large part, the problem goes back to a time when business schools were trying to establish themselves. Up until the 1960s, American business schools were dismissed as pseudo-academic institutions, including the universities of which they often formed a part, regarded them as a little more than vocational colleges. Since then, most of the leading schools have undergone major reassessments and introduced sweeping changes. However, it is questionable whether those changes have gone far enough.
15 What does the first paragraph suggest about the research generated by business schools?
A Its quality is variable.
B Its lasting value is uncertain.
C It has always been produced too quickly.
D It has had no influence on management.
16 In paragraph two, the writer argues that business school research
A takes a negative view of the business community.
B has failed to give credibility to management as a discipline.
C is directed at the wrong audience.
D does not stand up to academic scrutiny.
17 In the third paragraph, the writer criticizes the theories of management produced by business schools for being
A incomprehensible.
B contradictory.
C vague.
D inflexible.
18 In the fourth paragraph, the writer says that the business school system causes academics to
A be satisfied with reinterpreting previous research.
B avoid complicated business issues.
C concentrate on very narrow fields of study.
D focus on topics no longer relevant to business needs.
19 What do we learn about business schools in the last paragraph?
A They are reluctant to admit to failings.
B They resent criticism of their academic journal.
C They used to be looked down on by other institutions.
D They are comfortable with the current situation.
20 What is the writer’s purpose in this text?
A to express regret at the growth of business schools
B to point out a weakness in the approach of business schools
C to criticize business school for producing bad academics
D to forecast the eventual collapse of business schools
PART FOUR
Questions 21 -30
l Read the article below about expanding a retail business.
l Choose the correct word to fill each gap from (A, B, C or D) on the opposite page.
l For each question 21-30,mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
l There is an example at the beginning, (0)
Should you open a second branch?
Choosing to expand your business by opening a second location can be one of the best decisions you’ll ever (0)____, or one of the worst. Before you (21)____ at a decision, there are several things you should check to see if you are ready to take this big step towards expansion.
Firstly – your cash flow. Like starting up any business, a second location (22)____ a large initial investment and usually takes a long time to turn a profit. Look at your firm’s accounts carefully. If these (23)____ that you cannot afford a long-term drain on your financial resources, then it is probably better to wait.
Secondly – your personnel and systems. If you don’t have a management team (24)____ place already, you should probably think about establishing one before opening a second branch. The same (25)____ in the case of operating systems and controls. The better organized your business now, the better organized your second location will be, too.
Also, you need to think about your market. Is your current site doing as much business as it can (26)____, or are there ways you could grow without opening a second branch? Try expanding internally first. Similarly, don’t (27)____ that just because your business is successful in one town, it will immediately succeed in a (28)____ community. Research your potential markets before setting up shop, and (29)____ your new branch to answer the specific needs of these markets.
Finally, be realistic about the time you need to invest to make a second location work. You don’t want to take (30)____ so much work that you can’t honour your commitments.
21 A arrive B come C reach D approach
22 A contains B includes C involves D consists
23 A tell B present C show D exhibit
24 A at B in C by D to
25 A applies B refers C concerns D relates
26 A deal B hold C handle D cope
27 A assume B trust C rely D count
28 A connecting B neighbouring C surrounding D matching
29 A invent B amend C design D innovate
30 A through B up C down D on
PART FIVE
Questions31-40
l Read the article below about a successful airline .
l For each question 31-40, write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet .
l There is an example at the beginning, (0) .
A SUCCESSFUL AIRLINE
Executives at Fastline, now (0)____ of the country’s largest airlines, were in optimistic mood at the press conference they held yesterday afternoon. They announced that they were (31)____ a position to revise the company’s full-year profits forecast sharply upward (32)____ a result of an exceptionally strong performance over the last nine months. Profits during this period rose by very (33)____ 50 per cent compared with the same period last year. The company feels confident that this performance will continue throughout the remainder of the year. It is expected (34)_____will be a 40 per cent increase in profits for the full year compared with the 15 per cent that had been indicated (35)____ the half-year stage.
During the year, (36)____than raise its fares as most other airlines did in response to higher fuel costs, Fastline stuck to its decision to keep fares at the same level as last year. This must account to (37)_____ extent for the significant rise (38)____ only in the number of passengers booked on flights, but also in the amount of freight carried.
The airline has also confirmed that it is in negotiations with another airline to sell the whole of (39)____ 20 per cent holding in Border Air. However, executives are refusing to reveal the name of the interested party until a definite agreement (40)____ reached.
PART FIVE
Questions41 - 52
l Read the text of the job advertisement below.
l In most of the lines 41 - 52 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect of does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however,are correct .
l If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.
l If there is an extra word in the line ,write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet .
l The exercise begins with two examples, (0) and (00) .
COMMERCIAL DITECTOR REQUIRED
0 We are a dynamic and ambitious food manufacturer supplying the grocery sector
00 and are entering an extremely exciting period of new change as we focus on our
41 strategy how to achieve market leadership. We are at present seeking a new
42 commercial director. If you are the type of a person who can demonstrate the
43 energy and insight to drive a business forward looking as part of a team, this may
44 well be the perfect opening for you. We need appoint a committed professional who
45 will assume full responsibility for the company’s entire commercial operation. The
46 commercial director will have report directly to the general manager and will be
47 expected to provide with both leadership and hands-on coaching to the staff. This
48 high-profile role will involve in the implementing and developing of commercial
49 strategies that will make maximize the profitable growth of the company. The
50 person appointed will already have demonstrated sure success at a senior
51 commercial level for a minimum of three years time in a food manufacturing
52 company and will possess exceptional leadership qualities and commercial skills.
Writing 1 hour 10 minutes
Part one
Question 1
●The chart below shows the percentages of a company’s turnover which were contributed by its main product areas in three successive years.
●Using the information in the chart , write a short report comparing the contributions of the three products to turnover in the three years.
●Write 120-140 words on a separate sheet.
Part two
● Write an answer to one of the question 2-4 in this part. Write your answer in 200-250 words.
●
Question 2
●the Sales Manager in your company is looking for a venue where he can hold a three-day conference for sales staff. You have recently attended a conference at the Marston Conference Centre and the Sales Manager has asked you to prepare a report on the suitability of the Centre for his conference.
●Write your report for the Sales Manager.
●Describing your experience of the venue when you attended the conference there
●Assessing the positive and negative aspects of the venue
●Making a recommendation as to its suitability for your company’s conference
Question 3
●You are dissatisfied with the poor service that has recently been provided by the company responsible for delivering your products to your customers.
●Write a letter to the company:
●Informing them of the fall in the standard of their service
●Explaining why you are dissatisfied
●Describing the bad effect the service has on your business
●Detailing what action your intend to take if the service does not improve
Question 4
●You feel that your company’s main product or service would benefit from better publicity. The directors have asked you to write a proposal putting forward your ideas.
●Write your proposal for the directors.
●Mentioning the product or service concerned
●Stating the shortcoming of the current advertising
●Outlining how your competitors publicise their products or services
●Suggesting a different approach to advertising
Listening
approximately 40 minutes (including 10 minutes’ transfer time)
Part one:
Question 1-12
You will hear a spokesperson telling a group of business people about the Business Support Agency------an organization which distributes business and research grants.
. As you listen, for questions 1-12. complete the notes, using up to three words or a number.
.After you have listened once, replay the recording.
The business support agency (BSA)
Who we are
1 BSA receives financial support from the Department of ______________________
2 And some ___________________companies
3 Examples of work are shown in the __________________________________________
4 BSA made __________________________________________ last year
How to apply
5(i) Contact the__________________________________________ Office on 0188454545
(ii) Complete the form, including.
History of company
Details of requirements
6, __________________________________________
7(ii) Meet one of the agency’s __________________________________________
8 (Iv) Write a plan, including all _____________________ and _____________________
What happens next
9 the final decision is taken by the __________________________________________
10 successful applicants can expect to receive_____________________ of the funding needed from the BSA
11 Money will be paid in _____________________
12 Companies will need to produce a _____________________ at the end of the year
Part two
Question 13-22
●You will hear five different people talking about changing their jobs.
●For each extract there are two tasks, For Task One , choose the reason for changing jobs from the list A-H .For Task Two, choose the problem area in the new workplace from the list A –H
●After you have listened once, reply the recording
Task one—Reason for changing jobs
●For questions 13-17 ,match the extracts with the reasons, listed A –H
●For each extract, choose the reason each speaker mentions.
●write one letter A-H next to the number of the extract
13____________
14___________
15___________
16___________
17___________
A to escape from monotony
B to reduce travel time
C to improve promotion opportunities
D to increase time spent doing research
E to experience a flatter company structure
F to acquire a more creative role
H to make better use of qualifications
Task Two- Problem area in the new workplace
●For question 18-22, match the extracts with the problem areas in the new workplace , listed A – H.
●For each extract, choose the negative aspect each speaker mentions.
●Write one letter A –H next to the number of the extract.
18__________
19__________
20__________
21__________
22__________
A internal communication
B colleagues’ time management
C type of training
D IT support
E performance appraisal procedures.
F quality of office equipment
G secretarial assistance
H clarity of company strategy
Part Three
Question 23-30
●You will hear Tania and Jerry , two managers from a furniture manufacturer, discussing a meeting they have just attended.
●For each question 23-30, mark one letter (A ,B or C) for the correct answer.
●After you have listened once, replay the recording.
23. Why has the Chief Executive had to leave?
A The company has been taken over
B The company’s share price has fallen
C The company has changed its strategy
24 What is Tania’s opinion of the new Chief Executive?
A he lacks the qualities necessary for the position
B His experience qualifies him for the job
C He will prove to be better than he seems
25 What does the company intend to do ?
A concentrate on a smaller range of furniture products
B diversify into non-furniture products
C expand by taking over some of its competitors
26 In Jerry and Tania’s opinion, what should the company focus on future?
A increasing the market share of its core products
B finding niche markets for its products
C differentiating its products from those of competitors
27 Tania’s new area of responsibility is to manage
A a division
B a change
C a brand.
28 Jerry’s fear about his new post is that
A some of his staff might not like him being the boss
B he does not know enough about the field
C it will not be sufficiently demanding
29 What do Tania and Jerry think about the proposed television advertising campaign?
A It will focus on the wrong products.
B The company cannot afford it
C the timing is wrong
30 Tania thinks that not enough money is being spent on
A salaries
B product development
C the working environment
Speaking 16 minutes
Part one
In this part, the interlocutor asks questions on a number of work-related and non-work-related subjects to each candidate in turn, you have to give information about yourself and express personal opinions.
Part two
The candidate chooses one topic and speaks about it for approximately one minute. One minuts’ preparation time is allowed.
A personal management: the importance to a company of having well-motivated staff
B strategic planning: how to decide whether to purchase or rent company premises
C Sales：How to ensure that price levels for new products are set appropriately
Part Three
In this part of the test, candidates are given a topic to discuss and are allowed 320 seconds to look at the prompt card, before talking together for about three minutes, afterwards, the examiner asks more questions related to the topic.
For two candidates
Health and Fitness Facilities
You company is considering providing a fitness centre on the premises to help employees improve their health and fitness. You have been asked to make recommendations for this scheme.
Discuss, and decide together:
●What benefits the centre would bring for the company
●How to promote the need for health and fitness to all staff
For three Candidates
Health and Fitness Facilities
Your company is considering providing a fitness centre on the premises to help employees improve their health and fitness. You have been asked to make recommendations for this scheme.
Discuss, and decide together:
●What benefits the centre would bring for the company
● Which types of facilities could be included
●How to promote the need for health and fitness to all staff
Follow-on questions
●Would company fitness facilities be equally popular among all staff?Why ?why not?
●Should employees have to pay to use health and fitness facilities? Why /why not?
●What other ways are there for companies to encourage their employees to remain fit and healthy?
●Should companies include employees’ families in their health and fitness provision ? why ? why not?
●Is the welfare of employees an appropriate concern for companies? Why? Why not?
KEY
READING
PART 1
1-5 A E D A B
6-8 E C D
PART 2
9-10 C F
11-14 A E G B
PART 3
15 B
16-20 C D A C B
PART 4
21-25 A C C B A
26-30 C A B C D
PART 5
31-35 IN AS WITH THERE AT/BY
36-40 RATHER SOME/AN NOT ITS IS
PART6
41-45 HOW A LOOKING APPOINT CORRECT
46-50 HAVE WITH IN MAKE SURE
51-52 TIME CORRECT
TEST 3 LISTENING
1 EDUCATION
2 MULTINATIONAL
3 ANNUAL REPORT
4 20 AWARDS/ GRANTS
5 PROJECT CO-ORDINATION/ING
6THE PROEDICTED BENEFITS
7 REGIONAL CONSULTANTS
8 COSTS AND DATS
9 CENTRAL COMMITTEE
10 70 %
11 QUARTERLY INSTALMENTS
12 PROGRESS REVIEW/ REPORT
PART 2
13-15 C A H
16-20 D G B E A
21-22 H D
PART 3
23-25 C A B
26-30 C B A A C
Tapescipt
Listening
Q 1 -12:
Woman : Thank you everybody, thank you . the Business Support Agency or BSA are very proud of the part we play in the development of business success . Today, I ‘ll give you a bit of background on the Agency, and then outline the steps involved in applying for support, OK?
what we do, basically, is distribute financial support from our funds, which come from the central government Department of Education on the one hand, and then that sum is matched—the amount fluctuates on a yearly basis-by contributions from a number of multinational companies. We then follow the procedures I ‘ll be outlining in a moment. Some examples of this work, if you’re interested , can be seen in our annual report-I ‘ll leave copies out for you to look at . since we began, ,we’ve given out over three hundred grants. We made twenty awards last year alone, and expect that figure to rise to twenty-five next year. But we’re not simply giving this money away—our criteria are strict.
So , how do you apply ? Well, there are four steps to making an application. In the first place, you should get in touch with our Project Co-ordinating Office . You can call them on 0188454545 and express your interest . they’ll then send you an application form. It’s quite a lengthy document, I must warn you, and you ‘ll need to fill in information about the history of your company, outline your requirements, and include the predicted benefits. That gives us the beginning of a picture and enables us to make an initial decision about whether to proceed any further. The third step would be having a meeting with one of our regional consultants. This involves talking through your ideas for development if you get the grant and should help you to focus clearly on your exact needs. And the fourth step is producing a full plan, which needs to include all costs and dates. By this time, both sides will have a very clear picture. Now, all this obviously takes up quite some time, and you need to think carefully about which personnel within your organization are going to be available to put in the necessary work. Ok , well that’s then your role finished for the time being.
Meanwhile, we continue to go through your plans in detail. Ultimately, whether or not you get a grant will be decided by our central committee. This consists of representatives from our funding bodies and a panel of experts. For logistical reasons, they only meet every three months, so it can take a while for you to hear from us. Now, assuming you are successful and around eighty per cent of applications are the BSA will be looking to fund seventy per cent of your overall requirement. That proportion is up from a maximum of sixty percent last year. The payment will be made in quarterly installments. This has proved to be the most generally useful method all round. The last job for you will be coming up with a progress review, which you need to do at the end of the first year, well , are there any questions?
Q 13-22:
Man: I ‘d been feeling for some time that a move was overdue, and I suppose it was just the fact that I thought I ‘d miss the friendliness of the place that held me back. But in the end I realised that I could spend my life there and not move up the ladder- you could see how the roles with responsibility were filled by people who weren’t themselves about to move on. I am glad overall I can see my role will continue to develop here, and I ‘ve had no second thoughts- the only drawback is that it is a bit chaotic here. So even though I’d say I was pretty effective at meeting deadlines, there are others who aren’t ,and their inability to sort out each day’s tasks can create bottlenecks that cause frustrations
Woman: I was getting tired of the sense of doing the same thing over and over again and decided it was time to ring the changes. I’m pleased I did, because I ‘ve got a greater range of responsibilities now, now it means my skills and abilities are put to better use. It is a smaller outfit, of course, and the MD does rather keep himself to himself, but, generally, I like the independence that leaves me, particularly with such high-quality support staff. On the other hand, something that should be addressed here is the issue of assessment-the system here isn’t actually very relevant to what people actually do, so sometimes you’re judged on the wrong issues.
Man:I ‘d been looking around for some time, but it wasn’t until I wasn’t to see a recruitment consultant that I began to focus my aims I suppose it’s not surprising ---I was actually quite hard to work out what the core of the job was—but it was certainly at some distance from what I’d spent so long studying, and the consultant helped me to realize my dissatisfaction came from under-using that background. So I do feel a lot more focused here. One drawback, I guess, is the failure to make the most of all the IT, so that, for example, I end up sitting here emailing away to colleagues who can’t even be bothered to reply or react.
Woman : well, I’d been convinced for quite a while that my old company wasn’t moving in the right direction . but of course it was only me that seemed to think so ^^ everyone else was perfectly happy trundling along. So I was delighted when this opportunity came up , the change to properly investigate market trends, even if it meant a greater number of trips. Some people might think it dull, but I get a lot out of it , I have to say I ‘d get even more out of it if I thought they had the big picture a bit clearer in their heads. At the moment no-one knows what to do with my findings because the Board don’t know where they ‘re going long term.
Man: hm, well I was feeling stuck. It’s not that I’m hugely ambitious, I guess I’d be looking at re-training myself it that was the case- but certainly my interpersonal skills weren’t being used to their full extent. All I ‘d eve done was deal with one or two suppliers occasionally, whereas now I am meeting clients and other contacts on a daily basis, which is what I was hoping for. The downside is that my lack of knowledge about computers is beginning to show. This place is so well equipped with all the latest software that I am a bit out of my depth. In my defence, I’d say it would not matter so much if they had more than one poor overworked guy that you could contact to ask for help when something goes wrong.
Q 23 to 30
Woman:Whew, what a meeting! Were you as surprised as I was , Jerry?
Man: you bet,when the Chairman called us to it, I thought it might be about the takeover that there have been rumours about, but I didn’t expect anything like the Chief Executive being forced out.
Woman: NO, It doesn’t seem fair to blame him for the American project not making much money, when it hasn’t had long to establish itself, and I can’t see why the Board have decided to end it now. after all, they didn’t seem worried earlier this years, when the markets panicked about it and our share price dropped..
Man: And fancy Keith Barnes becoming Chief Exectutive! Did you know he joined as a trainee, thirty years ago ?
Woman: yes, he certainly knows the company, but he’s had very little time in positions that ‘ll help him as Chief Executive. I doubt if he’s got what it takes to run a big company like this. If you ask me, the Chairman wanted to make an internal appointment, and Keith was in the right palace at the right time. Well we’ll see how he turns out, but I reckon he’ll only keep the job for as long as the Chairman’s behind him.
Man: yeah, you are probably right, and what about these new plans Keith talked about? It seems pretty risky to expand into areas where we have got no experience or expertise .this company has been making furniture for years, and we ought to stick to what we’re good at, and maybe expand through acquisitions.
Woman: Well, it might be a good idea.
Man: I know our market share’s growing, but the strategy still relies too much on low prices to attract customers. What we really need to do more is to do more is to make people want our beds and more is to make people want our beds and furniture because they’ re special, not because they’re cheap.
Woman: You mean moving into niche markets?
Man:I’d describe it as staying in the mass market, but standing out from the rest.
Woman: Right. Consumers are becoming more demanding these days, after all.
Man: Exactly. What about you , Tania? How do you feel about your new responsibility?
Woman: it’s going to be quite a challenge, I reckon. I mean, sorting out the reorganization of the business into divisions sounds simple enough, but I suspect it’ll produce plenty of headaches. And with several brands to deal with, some of which cut across the divisions, it’s going to be pretty complicated. I suspect it’ll be tough to finish it in the time I ‘ve been given. And of course, congratulations on becoming Export Sales Manager, Jerry.
Man: Thanks.
Woman: You don’t sound very enthusiastic . don’t you want the job?
Man: oh, yes. It’s just the sort of challenge I need. Something to get my teeth into, and the chance to use what I learnt when I was in export Sales before. But there are other people who ‘ve stayed in the department who might resent me going back into it over them.
Woman: Well, surely if you work closely with them, they’ll realize you’re all right?
Man: Yes, I’m sure I can do it. I just need to get things off on the right foot right from the beginning.
Woman : so will you be involved in the TV advertising campaign that Keith talked about?
Man: I hope not! It’s all very well promoting our cabinet furniture brands, but I think the money would be better spent on pushing bed sales: that’s the side of the business that needs more consumer awareness..
Woman: Right, I can see why they’ve picked this time to plan a campaign, as advertising costs are relatively low at the moment, but I agree , they haven’t got the plan quite right. Actually I’m not very happy about the way they’ve allocated money in general.
Man: you aren’t going to turn down the pay rise, are you?
Woman: No, I’m not that idealistic. And of course it’s right to spend money on new products and machinery. But we’ve been asking for ages for better facilities for the factory workers in particulars, and it doesn’t look as though much is being done for them.
Man: maybe if we keep pressing for that##
