- •Contents
- •Предисловие
- •Unit 1. Careers
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Find words according to the definitions. The words go across, down and up
- •VI. Before reading the article from the “Financial Times” answer the questions:
- •VII. Read the article and go back to ex.VI. Has your opinion changed after reading this article? Making the most of the midlife crisis
- •VIII. Imagine that each paragraph in the article has a heading. Choose the best heading for each paragraph from the list below and number them in the correct order
- •IX. Choose the correct alternative. Then comment on the verb tenses in italics
- •X. A friend of yours is having a midlife crisis. Which of these things would you recommend and why?
- •XI. Render the following text into English Разрешите представиться – Лука Петрович Иванов
- •Unit 2. Selling online
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Read the definitions. Then put the anagrams in the correct order. The first letter of each word is in bold
- •VI. Before reading the article from the “Financial Times” answer the questions:
- •VII. Read this article from the “Financial Times” How to make money from internet news operations
- •VIII. Say ‘true’ or ‘false’. If ‘false’, correct the sentence. Rely on the information from the text
- •IX. Choose the alternative that best explains the word(s) in italics
- •X. Discuss the following questions
- •XI. Render the following text into English Развитие электронной коммерции
- •Unit 3. Companies
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Suggest the terms according to the following definitions
- •VI. Study the scheme 1. Imagine that you are a member of one of the departments and suggest your ideas about the functions of this department
- •VII. Before reading the article from the “Financial Times” answer the questions:
- •VIII. Read the article from the “Financial Times” and express the main idea of the text One furniture store fits all
- •IX. Use the correct form of words from the article to complete the statements about companies and markets
- •X. Discuss the following questions
- •XI. Render the following text into English Как организовать семейный бизнес
- •Unit 4. Great ideas
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Match the words to their definitions
- •VI. Read the article and define the main idea
- •VII. Say ‘true’ or ‘false’. If ‘false’, correct the sentence. Rely on the information from the text
- •VIII. Choose the correct alternative
- •IX. You are the boss of a company where a regional manager is against an innovative product that you are trying to introduce on to the market. What would you do and why?
- •X. Render the following text into English Разлагаемые кредитные карты
- •Unit 5. Stress
- •I. Lead-in
- •Stress? What stress?
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Complete these sentences with the words from the box
- •VII. Read the article and list all the types of food mentioned in the article The stress-free diet
- •VIII. Say ‘true’ or ‘false’. If ‘false’, correct the sentence. Rely on the information from the text
- •IX. Discuss the following
- •X. Render the following text into English Стресс от работы и методы борьбы с ним
- •Unit 6. Entertaining
- •I. Lead-in
- •What’s your Price?
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. The phrases below all include the word corporate. Match them to their correct meanings
- •VI. Before reading the article from the “Financial Times” answer the questions.
- •VII. Read the article Doing business and having fun
- •VIII. Which do you think are the best ones for corporate entertainment? Why?
- •IX. Make a summary of the text
- •X. Render the following text into English Как сплотить коллектив?
- •Unit 7. Marketing
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Match the words to form compound nouns according to the following definitions as in the example
- •VI. Before reading the text think of two or three companies/products that you associate with each of the colours below: red, blue, green, yellow, brown, purple, orange
- •VII. Read and translate the text First impression last
- •VIII. Choose some of the following businesses and discuss what corporate colour(s) would be most appropriate for them. You could also discuss other businesses
- •IX. Render the following text into English
- •Unit 8. Planning
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Find words according to the definitions. The words go across, down and up
- •VI. Before reading the article from the “Financial Times” answer the questions
- •VII. Read the article from the “Financial Times” and express the main idea of the text Personal time management for busy managers
- •VIII. Number the paragraph summaries in the correct order. Two of the summaries are not used
- •IX. Use the correct form of words from the article to complete the definitions
- •X. How would you answer the two questions in the first paragraph?
- •XI. Render the following text into English Искусство управления временем
- •Unit 9. Managing people
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. How can you describe these pictures according to theory X and y?
- •I won’t work. Hurrah, work!
- •VI. Match the words to their definitions
- •VIII. Which theory do you prefer?
- •IX. Render the following text into English Психологические теории мотивации персонала
- •Unit 10. Conflict
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions on the text
- •V. Read the definitions. Then put the anagrams in the correct order. The first letter of each word is in bold
- •VII. Read and analyse the article Negotiating by e-mail
- •VIII. Imagine that each paragraph in the article has a heading. Choose the best heading for each paragraph from the list below and number them in the correct order. Two of the headings are not used
- •IX. Choose the correct alternative
- •X. Are face-to-face meetings necessary when you do business with someone? Or can everything be done by phone and e-mail?
- •XI. Render the following text into English Как избежать конфликтов на работе Елена Егорова
- •Unit 11. New business
- •Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Complete these sentences with the words from the box
- •VI. Read the following text and find out how to write a business plan
- •VII. Read these extracts and decide which sections of the checklist they come from.
- •IX. Read the article a price that's hard to refuse
- •X. Which of these ideas are mentioned in the article? When you launch a new product, think carefully about
- •XI. Use the correct form of verbs or phrasal verbs from the article to complete the expressions
- •XII. Think of a company that had success with an original idea and that became less successful. Why did this happen?
- •XIII. Render the following text into English Как государство контролирует цены?
- •Unit 12. Products
- •I. Lead-in
- •II. Study the vocabulary
- •III. Read and translate the text
- •IV. Answer the following questions about the text
- •V. Complete the crossword
- •VI. Making luxury goods available to consumers at affordable prices is a very powerful marketing idea. Can you think of examples when retailers or manufacturers have done this?
- •VII. Before reading the article from the “Financial Times” answer the questions
- •VIII. Read the article and go back to ex.VII. Has your opinion changed after reading this article New medical products
- •IX. Number the paragraph summaries in the correct order. Two of the summaries are not used
- •X. Use the correct form of words from the article to replace the words in italics
- •XI. Render the following text into English Зачем создают псевдоиностранные бренды?
- •Список литературы
- •Job application
- •Writing essays
- •Writing a summary
- •Тексты для реферирования
- •Entrepreneurs
- •Brand Wars
- •If the Price is Right
- •Looking after the twenty percent
- •Bright Ideas
- •She's the Boss
- •The Death of Economics
If the Price is Right
A personal computer wouldn't cost twice as much in the UK as it does in the States and you wouldn't need to take out a bank loan to buy a coffee in the Champs-Elysees. Of course, strictly speaking, the computer is tradeable and the coffee non-tradeable. For tradeable goods are exported all over the world, but non-tradeables have to be consumed where they are produced. And, since a cafe noir halfway up the Eiffel Tower can only be purchased in Paris, frankly, they can charge what they like for it. But, tradeable or not, as every salesperson knows, "The price of a thing is what it will bring." And when it comes to price, the buyer is his own worst enemy. Show me a high price and I'll show you too many customers prepared to pay over the odds.
The truth is, people pay the price they deserve. A massive twenty per cent mark-up does not stop people buying a billion cans of Coke a day. And with profit margins of up to a phenomenal fifty per cent, Philip Morris can still gross around $100 billion a year, making the makers of Marlboro cigarettes the most profitable company in the world.
In fact, product-pricing lies at the very heart of the marketing process itself. Its impact is felt in sales volume, in the product's contribution to overall profits and, above all, in the strategic position the product occupies in the marketplace. For a higher price will often raise a product's profile and a high product profile commands a higher price. Product profile is basically the difference between a Rolex and a Timex, a bottle of Chanel No.5 and a bottle of Boots No.7. So, of course, is price.
But it isn't as simple as that. Economic, as well as market forces are at work. If they were not, we might expect international competition to equalise prices everywhere, but in spite of all the talk of a single market, a borderless Europe and a common currency, prices remain alarmingly elastic. And what goes for a song in one country can cost a bomb in another.
For one thing, most commodities, particularly agricultural products, are usually heavily subsidized. So, in the absence of free trade, food will tend to be cheap in the USA, cheaper still in Central and South America, expensive in Europe and outrageously so in Japan. Trade barriers compound the problem. For sadly, those who took part in the last round of GATT could barely reach general agreement on where to have lunch.
So how do you put a price on things? An everyday supermarket item in one country might be a luxury item in another and cost considerably more. Scotch, for instance, is a mass market product in Aberdeen but understandably a niche market product in Abu Dhabi. No prizes for guessing where it's cheaper.
Then, of course, there are taxes. By imposing wildly different rates of tax on otherwise homogeneous commodities like petrol, governments distort prices even further. If you're driving through Europe, you'd certainly do better to fill up in Luxembourg than in Italy. Tax is also the reason why a Jaguar car costs less in Brussels than in Britain, where it was built.
So buy your car in Belgium, your fridge and other 'white goods' in the UK; stock up on medicines in France and on CDs in Germany. That way you'll be sure to get the best deal. For where you spend your money is almost as important as what you spend it on, but neither is as important as the fact that you're prepared to spend it. In the words of film actor Cary Grant, "Money talks, they say. All it ever said to me was Goodbye."