Part I MANAGEMENT

Unit I STRUCTURE OF THE COMPANY

EPISODE 1

Smallcrown Limited

I

Alexander Kuznetsov, a Sales Manager¹ assistant of Smallcrown-St. Petersburg Ltd.², arrives in Liverpool on the first of October. The aim of his visit is a management training course³ at Smallcrown-Liverpool Ltd., the parent company⁴ of the subsidiary⁵ he works at.

Next day he visits Smallcrown, which is situated in the suburbs, not far from Liverpool.

Smallcrown-Liverpool Ltd. is a medium-sized company manufacturing electronic components for computer hardware and peripherals⁶.

Kuznetsov learns that two years ago Smallcrown was in financial difficulties because it concentrated on the research and development of new products and not on marketing them. In order to help the company to recover, Eldridge’s, the merchant bank⁷, made a loan of £ 250,000 at a low rate of interest. Besides the bank bought a percentage of the company’s shares and put one of the bank’s representatives on the Board of Directors⁸. They also appointed Mr John Williams as Chairman and Managing Director⁹ of the company.

Williams reduced the range of products, made better use of resources and concentrated on more effective production. As a result of his policy, annual sales began rapidly to increase, and Smallcrown became a successful profit-making concern again.

On the next day of his arrival Kuznetsov visits a meeting at the bank. Mr Eldridge, director of the bank, expresses his satisfaction at Smallcrown’s recovery, which is marked by the rise in share prices. He tells Williams that he thinks Smallcrown no longer needs the loan and the bank may decide to withdraw it in order to reinvest the money with some other company.

Williams is very much upset to hear this news. He suggests to give the bank detailed plans of Smallcrown’s development in order to persuade the bank to allow Smallcrown to keep the loan. Immediately after the meeting at the bank Williams asks his Marketing Manager¹⁰, Mr Davis, to look into the company’s development plans and choose a project that will definitely give positive results. Davis promises to report him back the following Monday.

II

Next morning Davis asks Mr Whitney, the Sales Manager, and Mr Murphy, who is responsible for product development, to come to his office and help him to review Smallcrown’s development projects. The aim is to consider which project must be given priority¹¹. It very soon becomes clear that Whitney does not like any of the projects, but Murphy is completely sure that the BSM-3 project will be the best to back.

Davis says that it will be extremely difficult to realise the BSM-3 project. Though this project has some technical advantages, there is no established market for it and besides the project was not worked out in detail before its suspension. Eventually Davis decides to submit the BSM-3 project to Williams as a project deserving priority.

Vocabulary Notes on the Text

¹ Sales Manager - коммерческий директор.

² Smallcrown-St. Petersburg Ltd. - компания с ограниченной ответственностью "Смолкраун-Санкт-Петербург".

³ management training course - курс стажировки по менеджменту.

⁴ the parent company - основная ("материнская") компания, владеющая контрольным пакетом акций.

⁵ the subsidiary - дочерняя компания; филиал.

⁶ hardware and peripherals - аппаратные и периферийные устройства.

⁷ the merchant bank - коммерческий банк.

⁸ the Board of Directors- правление акционерного общества; Совет Директоров.

⁹ Chairman and Managing Director - председатель и директор-распорядитель.

¹⁰ Marketing Manager - руководитель отдела маркетинга.

¹¹ to give priority - отдать предпочтение (чему-либо).

Exercises on the Text

1. Read and translate the text.

2. Translate the following words into Russian and learn their pronunciation:

Liverpool; subsidiary; suburbs; medium; peripherals; financial; merchant; percentage; certain; resources; annual; withdraw; reinvest; responsible; priority; project; extremely; technical; advantages; suspension

3. Answer the following questions:

A

• 1) What is Smallcrown-Liverpool Ltd.?

• 2) What does it manufacture?

• 3) What is the aim of Kuznetsov’s visit?

• 4) Why was Smallcrown in financial difficulties two years ago?

• 5) What did the Bank do to support the company?

• 6) What post was Williams appointed to?

• 7) What did Williams do to make Smallcrown a profit-making concern?

• 8) Why does the director of the Bank decide that Smallcrown no longer needs the loan?

• 9) What does he want to do with the loan?

• 10) What does Williams suggest to do to keep the loan?

• 11) What does his Marketing Manager promise to do?

В

• 1) Whom does Davis ask to come to his office the next morning?

• 2) What is the aim of their meeting?

• 3) What is Murphy sure of?

• 4) What does Davis think about the BSM-3 project?

• 5) What does he eventually decide to do?

4. Find in the text words and expressions close in meaning to the following:

to focus; to produce; goods; to decrease; fast; prosperous; to convince; to restore; to have financial problems; the commercial bank; to nominate; to investigate; yearly; to support; preference; to be very expensive; to hand in; to re-examine

5. What do we call?

1) the price paid for the use of money such as by a borrower to a lender of money;

2) the group of persons elected by the shareholders of a company to carry on the management of the company;

3) a commercial bank specializing in arranging and manufacturing home and foreign loans;

4) the value of goods sold by a commercial organization in a year.

6. Give English equivalents to the following Russian words and expressions:

a) председатель и директор-распорядитель; руководитель отдела маркетинга; коммерческий директор; научно-исследовательская деятельность; коммерческий банк; объем ежегодных продаж; обновление; стоимость акций; приоритет; технические преимущества; устоявшийся рынок; (временная) приостановка; аппаратные и периферийные устройства;

b) преуспевающий; дающий прибыль; ответственный; по низким процентным ставкам; в конце концов; эффективный;

c) дать ссуду; купить процентную долю; ввести кого-либо в совет директоров; назначить председателем; использовать ресурсы; потребовать возврата ссуды; реинвестировать капитал; поддерживать; разработать проект.