Business English Module one Change and the Company.

Business English

Module one

Change and the Company

What business areas has technology brought benefits ?

• Communication• Data storage and handling• Security( passwords and different levels of access: to

protect the business’s systems from outside interference )

• Customer service • Reducing transaction costs

What business areas has technology brought benefits ?---- customer service

• The use of e-mail enquiries can allow customer service departments to respond accurately and quickly to customer queries.

What business areas has technology brought benefits ?---- reducing transaction costs

• When a product is passed through a bar code reader in a supermarket, a number of things happen:

1. The bar code tells the till what the item is.

2. The till can retrieve the price from its database

What business areas has technology brought benefits ?---- reducing transaction costs

3. The system informs the stock room that an item has been sold

4. If stock has fallen below a certain level, the system will order new stock

5. Once all the items have been processed, the till prints out an itemized bill for the customer

Tech upgrade to boost service(banks)

• Chinese banks are quickening their adoption of world-leading technologies to meet the needs of China’s fast-growing consumer base, compete with overseas companies.

e.g. enterprise data warehousing; drive-through ATM; value-added ATM services like ticketing and down-loading MP3; payment networks

• China’s banks are noticing how technology is conductive to their progress in a competitive environment.

Communication and technology

ICT(information and communications technology)

--What changes has technology brought to communication?

--What kind of communications exist in business line?

a. company—company

b. Company itself ( upward; horizontal; downward )

c. Company—customers

d. Company--government

Four parts of communication

• The sender• The message• The medium• The receiver

How to decide the choice of medium?

-- it depends on the other three parts.

e.g. does it need to be quick, or cheap, or confidential?

True or false

• If any part of the communications chain– sender, medium, message, receiver – breaks down. Then the communication is not effective.

-- true

It may not be the sender’s fault, but if the receiver isn’t listening, or doesn’t understand, then the communication is a waste of time.

Internal and external communication

• Internal: 1. lectures and speeches; business meetings2. Memo; letters; reports; official notices; notes; e

mail• external:1. Telephone calls; interviews; presentation of prod

ucts; meetings; 2. Letter of enquiry; the catalogue, price list; order;

bill; invoice

Email

• Advantages: -- short; to the point; quick; not bound by the sorts of

rules of formality• Disadvantages: 1.there’s no guarantee that the receiver actually reads

or deals with emails.2. Not secure: other people both within or outside the

organization can read them if they have the skills to get into the system.

True or false

• Email is cheap, quick, secure and efficient.-- false. Email is quick, but it can also be inefficient.

A phone call or face-to-face meeting might be better. It is also possible for email to be ‘hacked’.

( hacking: illegal entry into a computer system.)

Advantages of website

• Use the site for advertising, demonstrations and to publish catalogues and price lists.

• Visitors can buy or order goods.• Other businesses can shop around for the

best suppliers.• The business is actually addressing a global

market and has the possibility of gaining customers from anywhere in the world.

Structure of organizations

• structure of organizations

What’s the difference between tall structure and flat structure?

Tall structure :a tall structure usually has many levels or layers of management. It is hierarchical.

Flat structure: a flat structure has fewer levels of management. This often results in more individual responsibility.

Pyramid structure

• Board of directors

• Chief executive

• Senior managers

• Middle managers

• Supervisors

• operatives

Translation

• When was this company founded?• What type of products does the company produce?• How many people work for this company?• what’s his position in the company?• when was the website created?• where is the head office based?• he is responsible for three departments.• she reports to finance department manager.

Departments and duty

• 1.production department manager: ( production; maintenance and security)

2.marketing department manager ( advertising; sales; market research)

3.finance department manager ( customer accounts; wages )

4.personnel department manager ( recruitment; training )

Translation

• The company consists of four departments.• Frank looks after personnel.• Tiff and Tim are accountable to Jack.• Who runs the Marketing department?• How many people does Maggie have under

her?• We have to think globally because the

competition is global now.

People and change

Changes will bring about advantages and disadvantages:

advantages: enjoy different ways of life; new technology can make work quicker and more convenient by increasing efficiency;changes provide more opportunities to develop the career.

disadvantages: life will be stressful and difficult; etc.

people and change

• What problems will you face?

-- go off duty.

How could you adapt to changes ?

To meet new demands and challenges, workers have to improve their level of competence. They have to grasp more knowledge and skills.

Product performance

• 2.the language to describe product performance and increased turnover: rise; fall; soar and plummet; stay steady; fluctuate

• Use graphs to describe trends.

Translation

• Beer sales went down to 2,000 in July.• Sales of natural toothpaste peaked at 8,000 in 1998.• House sales stay steady these three months.• Exchange rates fluctuate dramatically.• Share prices go up slightly.• Unemployment figures rise dramatically.• Sales of cars rose due to the prosperity.• Sales fell as a result of competition.• Because of economic crisis, the unemployment rose

dramatically.• Sales dropped owing to the bad management.

How a product can win more customers

• Good quality

• Competitive price

• Effective advertising

• Satisfying after-sales service

Case discussionEstee lauder – L’Oreal

• Estee Lauder sticks to high-end market image without an intention to buy any local brand.

• L’Oreal acquired two local brands, Mininurse and Yue-Sai.

--- Whom will you support? Why?


• L’Oreal further tap China’s medium and low-end markets. It will give L’Oreal a larger market share in and easy access to the other cosmetics sectors, which are very important in such a price-sensitive local market.

• It will blemish L’Oreal’s image as a high-end quality products provider.


• Estee lauder: as a company, whose products are sold in more than 120 countries and territories, the US-based company has successfully introduced two brands into China, Estee lauder and Clinique.

• It moved its regional headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai.


• Continue to strengthen the status in high-end market.

-- The number of China’s high-end consumers will grow as the country’s economic continues driving forward. It is a matter of time, with the economic progression and the quality of life and living standards picking up. It will have a bright market prospect.

STEP analysis

• STEP analysis

The STEP analysis is used to analyze the external factors that can affect the businesses.

S: sociological

T: technological

E: economic

P: political

(E: ecological )

STEP analysis

• Sociological: life-expectancy, increased leisure time, unemployment,welfare,consumption habits

• Technological: technology• Economic: currency, exchange rate,share prices• Political: taxation, interest rates;government

policy, civil unrest• (ecological: environment protection,those

ecological products will win more support from government and customers)

Ecological – being environmentally responsible

• Air pollution• Water pollution• Noise pollution• Visual pollution --- ( by spoiling people’s views )• Safety hazards ( e.g. the nuclear waste recycling plant )• Waste products ( e.g. plastic packaging; used car tires; harmful chemicals

in refrigerators )

Why most importers of vehicles usually choose high-quality or luxurious products in

last few years?• importers of vehicles usually choose high-

quality or luxurious products that are rarely seen in the domestic market.

Reasons: 1. Consumption capability has increased in recent

years, especially in the southern, eastern part of China.

2. High-class vehicles are competitive with domestic products, which cater to most high or middle class Chinese’s consumption habits

Why most importers of vehicles usually choose high-quality or luxurious products in

last few years?3. China continues to cut tariffs according to i

ts WTO commitments. 4. The country will make full use of quotas to control the import of vehicles, helping to ke

ep the price of imported vehicles at the existing high level, while in 2005, China will fundamentally eliminate import controls.

Globalization

• With Globalization of market,different corporations will meet new chances, challenges and competitions. What should they do?

I. Put new technology to use and produce new goods constantly to satisfy different customers.

II. Investing in people to develop the potential of each employee.

III. Adopt modern management to save unnecessary expenditure and improve efficiency.

IV. Pay close attention to government’s policies’ change so they can take effective measures instantly. Etc.

Cathay plans to enlarge its fleet to as many as 100 aircraft.– Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacifi

c Airways • What enabled Cathay to make such a decisi

on ?

1. With Globalization of China’s market, more multinationals will come and more travel demands will arise. It will be a golden chance for Hong Kong to exert its function as an international financial, aviation and tourism centre.

Cathay plans to enlarge its fleet to as many as 100 aircraft.– Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacifi

c Airways

• China is at present the world fifth largest tourism destination. China is expected to grow into the largest one in 2016.

• Although competition on the mainland—Hong Kong route is tougher, the demand will also surge as business ties and exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong strengthen.

Telecommuting

• Tele-: meaning distant e.g. television ;telegraph; • Telecommuter: an employee who works at home a

nd is connected to the employer’s office by computer. His or her work is called telework.

• What do you think of this new working way?• (flexible; isolated;enjoy your life; under-stimulate

d; lonely; etc)

Some expressions used in ICT

• Online computer: computer connected to the internet• Intranet:a private system of interconnected computers• Web browser: a tool to see what’s on the internet• Website: a specific address on the world wide web• Computer literate able to use a computer

Words on tax

• Revenue: in public finance, the income received by the state from taxation. E.g. Board of Inland Revenue

• Tax:a payment of money legally demanded by a government authority to meet public expenses. E.g. death tax; consumption tax; income tax; land tax; real estate tax

• Sales tax: a tax charged as a percentage of the retail price of goods or of the price charged to the public for services.

Words on tax

• Value-added tax: an indirect tax, being a form of general sales tax, charged as a percentage of the selling price of an article or commodity, it;’s allowed to set against the input tax.it avoids multiple taxation.(for corporations whose turnover is over 1 million, they can apply for value-added tax. The percentage is about 17% of sales price minus purchasing cost, while the percentage of sales tax is about 5% of sales price.

• Tax return : a statement which every taxpayer must by law make once a year, stating his income during the past tax year and claiming allowance from taxable income.

Words on trade

• Order: a direction to a supplier to supply gods. E.g. I enclose an order for 100 tons of paper.

• Offer: some thing or price that’s offered. I.firm offer: an offer that’s fixed, that the offeror will not change. II. Non-firm offer: it is not bound by law, the offeror can change any time (accept an offer; decline an offer )

• Inquiry: a request for a quotation, a request to be told the price and conditions of delivery, etc. before placing an order for the goods.

Words on trade

• Contract: any legally binding agreement between two or more parties. E.g. conclude a contract; carry out a contract; cancel a contract; terminate a contract.

• Discount: a reduction from list price or catalogue price or market price. E.g. quality discount; trade discount

Words on insurance

• Pension schemes: I. Contributory pension scheme: in which the employee , as well as the employer, contributes to the financing of the pension. II. Non-contributory pension scheme: in which the employee does not contribute, since the employer bears the whole cost of financing the pension.

• Premium: the money paid by the insured to the insurers in return for insurance cover or benefits payable under the conditions in an insurance policy

• Some common insurances: accident insurance; burglary insurance; fire insurance; health insurance; liability insurance; life insurance; marine insurance; medical insurance

Words on insurance

• Insurer: an insurance company who take upon themselves the risk of paying for losses in accordance with the conditions of an insurance contract.

• Insured: the person or organization whose life or property is insured under an insurance contract given ir issued by the insurers.

• Insurance policy: a printed contract by which the insurer, in return for a payment called a premium, binds himself to pay the person named in the policy, called the insured, a certain sum of money, when a stated event happens.

New words and phrases

• Account: account day; final accounts; accountant• Market : market share; soft market; firm market; b

lack market; finance market; futures market; labor market; securities market; buyers’ market

• Communication: to communicate by cable/letter/phone/internet• Whizz-kid: bright young person, who becomes highly successfu

l, esp, in business

Words and expressions

• Credit: bank credit; credit card; credit information• To clock in :

record the time of one’s arrival on a card• Shop floor:

the space—produce goods• Strategy:

a plan to decide how a company will proceed in the future


Finance: finance analysis;finance budgetRecruitment:--The process of finding , choosing and engaging suitable new

employees for an organization.Lead time:--Time from the time of planning an order till the date that

delivery can be expected.Dynamic economics: --explain economic change and growthStatic economics--examine certain basic situations in an economy


• Sub-contract--a contract in which the sub-contractor provide materials or

service to another party to perform another contractTake off --(sales) increase;(clothes) remove; (plane) departBilingual:--speaking, using two languagesSpecification:--any detailed description of the form and content of an article or

commodity.e.g. these goods are not to specification.Promotion:--I. An increase in the rank.II. Sales promotion

Words and phrases• Employment agency or bureau--a business which provides a service to employers by introducing

persons suitable for employment.Foreman:--a man in charge of a number of workersS.E.C.Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S.A.).its main purpose is

to protect investors from fraud.Turnover--the total value of business done during a given periodSale—salesThe act of selling—the value of goods sold by a commercial

organization in a given period

Words and expressions• Output--the total value of all goods produced and services performed

by a producer, an industry or a country. E.g. gross output=net output+ the cost of materials and services

Profit:--the difference between business income and expenses.e.g.

gross profit=net profit+income taxExchange rate:--the value of one currency expressed in units of another e.g.

today’s exchange rate is $1.95 to the pound sterling.Export—importe.g. the British export machinery in return for foodstuffs; we

import tea from Sri Lanka

Words and phrases• Chain-store: one of a group of shops under the same

ownership and management, and selling more or less the same range of goods at the same prices and being supplied from a central warehouse

• Unemployment--I. The state of being unemployed. II. The number of persons

that are unemployed in a country. Bargain(sale): --a selling of unwanted or leftover stock at especially low

prices Consumption:--I.the act of consuming II. An amount consumed e.g. the

petrol consumption of a car

Words and phrases

• Conglomerate-- business company made up of a number of different firmsEcology--branch of biology that deals with the habits of living things,

especially their relation to their environment.Unrest--disturbed condition e.g. social unrest because off

unemployment and povertyImmigration: settlers from another country coming into one

country with the intention of living there permanently

Words and phrases

• Revenue: money received in the form of cash, check,etc.during a particular period.

• Disposable income

--the total income which all people in the economy have left for spending after paying direct taxes


• Bonus-- an extra payment to employees to encourage better work.

E.g. efficiency bonus; premium bonus; production bonusReturn--rate of return(the return profit on an investment expressed

as a percentage of the original investment) e.g. an investment of $100-20%rate of return-profit:$20.

Career patterns--the general term for working patterns within an industry or

a nation e.g. career patterns have changed from lifetime employment to frequent job changing


• Scale--relative size, extent, etc.(on a large scale/on a small scale)

e.g. these cars are being produced on a large scale.Asset--valuable quality or skillExpanding industry /declining industry--one that’s increasing in size and output/one that’s

decreasing in size and output.Operate--to run, manage it as a business e.g. operating cost, operating

system

Business English Module one Change and the Company.

Documents

Transcript of Business English Module one Change and the Company.