新编剑桥商务英语高级第三版2.1

Growing the company

Parts of a company

1 Do you think this quotation is true all business

‘Ithink that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times ’.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries

2 Read this entry from a company website and use these words to label the digram. Subsidiary headquarters sales offices Warehouse R&D division main plan

We are based in La Defense, the business district of Pairs, and new products are developed nearby at our labs in St Dense. Our principal manufacturing facility is just out side Lille and products go from there to be a cental distribution point at sales agencies cover the various regions of France with international offices in Frankfurt,Milan and Madrid. The London offices is run by our UK subsidiary. 3 What is the diffidence between the following words and phrases 1 a sales office and a subsidiary 2 a warehouse and a plant 3 the headquarters and a division Growth Strategy 4 Find a synonym in the box of each of the underlined words. Go public sell off set up go out of business expand Take over make redundant shut down 1 We acquired Everforce Ltd in 2005. 2 Our target is to grow the business by 15% each year. 3 We created a subsidiary to sell after-sales service. 4 The company will be listed on the Stock Exchange next year. 5 They went bankrupt last year. 6 We laid 300 employees off in June. 7 After a lot of discussion we decided to closed the plant. 8 We have divested our shares in the logistic company. 5 What is the diffidence between the following expressions 1 Laying people off and firing them 2 taking over a company and merging with it 3 organic growth and non-organic growth

6SAP and Oracle are the world ’s leading companies in providing the software solutions for business. But their business strategies are very diffident.

Read the text about SAP’S growth strategy. Choose the best sentences from the list (A-H) below the complete each gap (1-6). Do not use any letter more than once. SAP competes with‘organic growth’

How do you stay at the top of the heap in the business software game If you ’re SAP, you do it through ‘organic growth ’,not blockbuster acquisitions. That is the world from SAP CEO Henning Kagermann. (0) H

The second-best strategy is acquisition: Kagermann said. ‘The best is the organic growth. We are not just doing the organic growth because we have no other choice.

The comment is aimed squarely at rival Oracle Corp; which spent nearly $20 billion between 2004 and 2006 expanding its core database business into the SAP-dominated business applications market.(1) . ‘We are the market

leader,’he said.’It’s on surprise that a distant number-two player wants to catch u.’ SAP was set up in 1972 by five former IBM employees.(2) . Although it has a growing number of subsidiary, there are complements to its main activities, as Shai Agassi, president’s of the company ’sProducts and technology Group explain, at the same time having a direct dig at Oracle. The key diffidence between the two companies, he says, lies in Oracle’s tendency to ‘acquire an industry solution that is at the heart’.‘when we do an acquisition, it ’t at the edge of the solutions. (3) Oracle is buying half body parts and trying to make a body out of it’.

In fact, Agassi expects SPA to grow faster than the rest of the industry this year- 15% to 17% in sales of new software licences-through internal innovation and small-scale acquisition.(4) .

SAP used to concentrate on large business customers, but increasingly pursuing sales in the market, a strategy that began in 2000. (5) .

The company excepts to finish development of the mySAP suite within the next four years, as well as its Enterprise Services Achitecture (ESA). ESA is basically a platform that will allow SAP to provide consistent business services around it, in much the same way as Microsoft has built applications around its successful operating systems.

Among the company’s other goals is the development of hundreds of additional services for the mySAP suite, a so-called‘ecosystems’of supportive technologies. ‘Business in the future is not business in an ecosystem. (6) innovate on the platform. ’ Exam Success than 25,000

make sure that the total software

phrase you choose fits grammatically and in Virsa System,

meaning, both with compliance software. the sentence before want to remain

and the sentence after. Read the whole text the big players

back to yourself at the end.

regional enterprise

business in an enterprise, ‘Kagermann says.’It’s

. We try to invite others with great ideas to

A In fact, it expects sales to companies with fewer

employees to

account for nearly half SAP’s

sales this year.

B They recently announced they had purchased

a privately held supplier

of regulatory yourself if you

C You just can’t do everything

D

Competitive.

Competition in the market is fierce and only

will survive.

E Since then, it has evolved

from a small,

into the global market leader in ERP software,

employing

more than 34,000 people.

F Kagermann was unimpressed with

appetite for big,

Headline-grabbing acquisition ( PeopleSoft

Siebel System).

G That is different from buying half of a heart. H He made the comments while he was talking

with reporters

Last week during his company’s annual

Developer Kickoff

Meeting in Burlingame, CA.

7 Summarise the growth strategies of SAP and Oracle. What is the key to SAP’s longer-term strategy Past tenses

1 Study these extracts from the text about SAP on page 17.

Name each underline tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect, present perfect or used to )

Say what you know about each tense’s use and why you think it is used here. 1 He made the comments while he was talking with reporters last week. 2 SAP was set up in 1972 by fine former IBM employees.

3 Since then, it has evolved from a small, regional enterprise into the global market leader.

4 They recently announced they had purchased Virsa System.

5 SAP used to concentrate on large business customers,but is increasingly pursuing sales in the midmarket.

6 it’s strategy that began in 2000.

2 You receive this internal email. Follow the instruction it.

Hi Denise

Below is the short company history I ’ve written for the ‘About us’entry on the English page of the new website. I think it ’sgenerally OK but I’m so unconfident about my use of tenses in English that ’Ive just left the verbs in the infinitive! Can you put them in the right form and send it back Thanks and sorry for being so useless!

Brigitte This is the unusual of Raincoat Software, a company that (1) (come)

into being accidentally because of the hobby of one man, Hans Meier.

In 1998 Hans (2) (work) as a computer programmer for a large

bank in Zurich. But he (3) (be) restless. Each evening he (4) (return) home and, just for fun, (5) (hack) into official websites on his personal computer (not the bank ’s, of course!). The day after he (6) (hack) onto a particularly sensitive US government website, he (7) (receive) an email from them. Fearing that would the end of his career as a hack at the bank, he

Oracle’s

(8) (open) it. It (9) (be) a request from the US government, asking if he (10) (want) a job as a security advisor.

Rather than taking a job as a government employee, Hans Meier (11)

(see) the opportunity to make a successful business out of a computer security protection. Raincoat Software (12) (be) born.

Since then, the company (13) (employ) over 50 ‘security expert’- in

other words, people write a similar background to our founder. We (14) (help) over 300 large companies and government departments and are now a $100 million a year business.

But did the US government think it (15) (take) a risk by employing

Hans Meier all those years ago The answer they (16) (give) then is still the company’smotto today: ’Better safe than sorry’.

Write about the past

3 write a short piece (100 words approx) about a turning point in your life, work or studies: a moment when you decide to pursue a different route from the one you had up to that point. Use the following to help you.

1 What you were doing before that 2 What happen to change your life/ 3 What happen next 4 What happens when companies merge or acquire other companies look at the table below and make notes.

Opportunities

threats

Employees Shareholders Customers Suppliers

5 In December 2009 Oracle, the world's second largest business software applications provider, took over PeopleSoft, the third largest. Read the letter that the CEO of PeopleSoft, Dave Duffield, wrote to his employees.

1 Does he think the takeover will benefit employees or not

2 Which of these adjectives best describes his feelings about the takeover bitter / resigned/angry

This is a sad day for me, and I'm sure; an equally sad day for you.

It is now clear that Oracle will acquire our company. Over the past few weeks, our independent directors met with individual stockholders to get their views. We were told during these conversations that they believe Oracle's $24 wasn't adequate and did not reflect peopleSoft's real value. It become clear to us that the vast majority of our stockholders would accept $ and Oracle was willing to pay for it.

You should know, and I hope you would expect, that I am deeply saddened by this outcome. We have come so far under such trying circumstances over the past

eighteen months, and especially the past two and a hall' months. PeopleSoft had gained significant momentum in all areas of our company, including with customers, prospects, and in the financial community.

Over the next few weeks, we will be working with Oracle to ensure that you get answers to as many questions as possible that you have. I believe some of you will find interesting opportunities at Oracle, others will take your talents and work

elsewhere the area that you live, while another group may have difficulties finding rewarding job experiences. It is to this last group that I offer my sincerest apologies for not figuring out a different conclusion to our 18-month saga.

I know it is little comfort, but I am extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished over the past 17一 plus years, and longer in the case of JD I am even prouder of you for your perseverance and teamwork over the past eighteen months. I make a final that is to continue our work with our heads held high.

Whether it's serving customers, building products or working on internal operations, 1'eopleSoft and the people at peopleSoft have built their reputation as a company with class. Sincerely, Dave

The peoplesoft takeover

1 Listen to two accounts of the takeover by a commentator and an industry analyst, both close to the takeover. What are the main differences in the working environment and the way employees were rewarded at the two companies 2 Listen again and answer the questions. Por each question (1-6), mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.

1 What is said about how consultants are deployed in big IT consulting companies A They are given jobs with a lot of responsibility. B They are often expected to learn on the job.

C They only work on projects where they have proven experience. 2 What does the commentator say about salaries at PeopleSoft A At least the company was open about its pay policy. B They were at the market rate for the job. C They were unacceptably low.

3 How did employees feel about their CEO, Dave Duffield A That he respected them and looked after them. B That he was ready to leave the company.

C That he developed good software applications.

4 What does the commentator imply happened after the merger A The company's reputation suffered B People grew to respect the new CEO C A lot of people lost their jobs.

5 How does the industry analyst defend the company's growth strategy A He says size is very important in this industry.

B If Oracle hadn't taken over PeopleSoft, someone else would have. C He says it will make them the biggest company in the sector. 6 How does he explain the differences in company culture A The two CEOs had a different philosophy.

B The two companies were involved in different types of business. C There was no real difference. A prase release

You work in the press office of an insurance company that has recently taken over another company. Since the take-over there have been some negative reports about it. You decide to put out a press release. Include the following points.

·Explain the business reasons for the take-over (to compete with other big insurance companies; to rationalise staffing)

·Express your enthusiasm about the future opportunities for the merged company. ·Thank all the employees for their support.

·Reassure people that there won't be major job cuts. Begin like this:

PRESS

RELEASE Insure CO

Last month Insure Co was pleased to announce the acquisition of

ABC Insurance. The new company brings together two leading insurance providers to form the world's third largest insurance company ⋯ 4 Read this extract from an article in Business Strategy magazine. Where do these

four types of organisation belong in the text

banks stock brokers restaurants oil companies

organisational culture Rapid feedback and Reward macho

Slow feedback and Reward

Bet-the-company

Low risk

Work-hard, play-hard

High risk

Tough-guy

culture

culture Process culture

culture

A of attempts have been made to categorise the organisation and culture of different companies, but only two things seem certain: 1)that many different cultures and types of organisation can exist within each company 一 and 2)that the activity and sector play a crucial role in determining how work is organised. Deal and Kennedy recognised this when they proposed four different types of

organisational culture: Work-hard, play 一 hard culture tends to apply to companies like software developers or (1) which need to react quickly to changing

circumstances and fo work of a high tempo. Creativity often plays an important part in their work so they tend to be organised in a project-based way grouping people in teams to solve particular tasks. Tough 一 guy macho culture concentrates power

around key personnel,but it will also devolve a lot of responsibility to the individual and emphasise decisions that affect the present rather than the future. Examples are (2) sports teams, police, the military Process culture applies to companies which have strict hierarchies and strict job roles, such as insurance companies (3) and public services. Strategy and direction seem to take second place to organisation

and so hey are often, maybe unfairly, associated with plodding and 一 company culture may also be present in companies with a hierarchical structure, but long-term planning and investment, involving high risk, is also a key feature, so direction and goals are generally clearer

Examples are aircraft manufacturers and (4)

5 Describe an organisation you know or have worked or studied in. 1 How many people worked there 2 What was its business/ speciality 3 How was it organised

4 How would you describe the culture

Did it fall into any of the categories described above In what ways

An employee survey

6 Look at this survey from the same edition of Business Strategy magazine. Mark the six items that are most important to you (1 is the most important).

I prefer an organisation which emphasises:

A Individual responsibility and empowerment of employees B Teamwork and consensus

C Clear lines of reporting and areas of responsibility D Quick decision-taking and action E Long-term, careful planning

F Creativity, innovation and taking risks G Clear and consistent procedures H Job security

I Customer satisfaction J Measurable results K Employee welfare

L Financial reward for employees M Non-financial rewards (training,

development)

N Informal relationships between

staff and management