MARKET LEADER TEST 1a. Listen to a radio interview with Scott Duran, CEO of the US firm Charters Inc. Take notes and then answer these questions (1–8). 1 What type of company is Charters? . . . . . . . . . . …………………………………….. 2 Where is its main location? . . . . . . . . . . ……………………………………………… 3 How long has the company been outperforming its rivals? . . . . . . . . . . ………………. Scott outlines three main targets. What are they? 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 What percentage of the company’s sales are currently outside the US? . . . . . . . . . . ………………… 8 Where are the company’s best prospects for sales in ten years’ time? ……………………………… 1b. Listen again and choose the best answer, a, b or c, to these questions (9–15). 1. Scott believes it is important for the company to … a) restructure its organization. b) increase productivity. c) keep looking for ways to improve. 2. Why is dialogue with customers important for Charters? a) To involve them in developing new products. b) To be able to deal more effectively with their problems. c) To improve services. 3. What will happen when old plants are closed? a) Many people will be made redundant. b) Most workers will have left before the closures. c) All workers will be transferred to other jobs within the company. 4. What reason does Scott give for building plants in Asia? a) Manufacturing in the UK is in decline. b) Production costs are lower in Asia. c) The potential market is enormous. 5. How does Scott describe his strategy for expanding into Asia? a) Buy up existing plant. b) Form partnerships with local companies. c) Build new plants and operate them independently. 6. Why is it better to send older managers to work in plants overseas? a) Older managers are more highly regarded in Asia. b) Young people don’t have the right experience. c) Young people are less motivated. 7. Which of these statements best reflects Scott’s view of business? a) You get the best leadership by offering high bonuses. b) Success depends on having an ethical approach to management. c) It is important to look to the long term. 2. Listening - Three young people, who were students together, want to start their own business. Lucy is from the USA, Ben from Ireland, and Tobias from Germany. As they have no capital of their own, they need to raise finance. They are each in their respective countries looking for potential investors. They hold a konference call to discuss progress. Listen to the discussion and complete the notes below that Lucy made about the call (1–10). You will hear the call twice. 16th August. Call to discuss financing • Ben reported that he had contacted ………… venture capitalists, but most of them were not interested because we are …………and have …………. • Tobias reported that the same was true in Germany. However, he spoke to one investor by phone, who gave two pieces of advice. One was to get funding from ………… in order to bridge the gap; and the other was to focus on …………. • Tobias and I were in favour of …………, but Ben pointed out that he had already tried this and didn’t think it was a feasible option. • I suggested that we should try to ………… the amount we’re asking for. • Ben agreed and pointed out that that we could save costs by …………. • One disadvantage of persuading venture capitalists to invest in our business is that they would …………. • Ben feels strongly that we should keep …………for ourselves if we want to make money in the future. 3.Finance and banking. Complete the gaps in the text below (11–20) with appropriate words from the box. There are two words you will not need. Bankrupt creditors debtors equity holdings liquidation repayments rescue restructure shareholders wiped out write off Viatunnel in debt crisis Viatunnel owes its . . . . . . . . . . . £6.4 billion and risks going into . . . . . . . . . . . if a . . . . . . . . . . . plan cannot be agreed soon. Despite months of negotiations, the company has failed to come up with a deal to . . . . . . . . . . . its debt. Banks are seeking to swap debt for . . . . . . . . . . ., but Viatunnel Chairman, Jean-Marie Crété, has told . . . . . . . . . . . that he will not agree to terms which could see their . . . . . . . . . . . reduced in value or . . . . . . . . . . by the banks. Instead, he wants lenders to agree to . . . . . . . . . . . two-thirds of the debt to give the company a chance of long-term survival. Capital . . . . . . . . . . . are due in full in two years’ time. 4. Language of trends. Choose a word or phrase from the box to replace each of the underlined phrases in the sentences below (29–35). pared back plummeted poured slipped soared sank into the red tripled 1. Property prices have increased by 300 per cent since 1990. . . . . . . . . . . . 2. The price of copper fell slightly during today’s trading. . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Demand for petrol has surged following fears that there could be shortages. . . . . . . . . . . . 4. The airline’s share price took a sharp dive yesterday. . . . . . . . . . . . 5. As profits turned to loss, the mood became despondent. . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Investment flowed into technology shares, showing signs of fresh optimism. . . . . . . . . . . . 7. The company has gradually cut its production costs over the last year. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Multi-word verbs. Complete the sentences below (24–31) with the correct word from the box. against away into off on out through up 1. If we don’t start reining in costs very soon, we’re likely to go . . . . . . . . . . . of business. 2. If we want to maintain growth, we need to tap . . . . . . . . . . . new sources of revenue. 3. The R&D department has come . . . . . . . . . . . with some highly innovative ideas. 4. If we go ahead with this product, we’re going to come up . . . . . . . . . . . some stiff competition. 5. An over-complicated ordering system could put many customers . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. There must be a solution we can both agree on: why don’t we talk things . . . . . . . . . . . ? 7. This project is going nowhere. I think we should give up . . . . . . . . . . . it. 8. There was a lot of resistance to the idea, so we’ve now backed . . . . . . . . . . . from it. 6.Noun phrases. Choose one word from each column, A and B, to complete the three-word noun phrases and match them to the definitions below (29–36). A B capital border competitive bottom cross entry medium intensive one management post off rock pricing start sized stock up 0 a company that is neither very large nor very small: a . . .medium-sized. . . . . . . . company 1. a project that requires a lot of capital: a . . . . . . . . . . . project 2. customers who buy only once from a company: . . . . . . . . . . . customers 3. help given to new companies: . . . . . . . . . . . support 4. the acquisition of one company by another in a different country: a . . . . . . . . . . . takeover 5. measures that prevent competitors from imitating your idea once it is commercialised: . . . . . . . . . . . barriers 6. a database used to track stock levels: . . . . . . . . . . . database 7. a strategy where a company aims to undercut its competitors’ prices: a . . . . . . . . . . . strategy 8. a price that is a low as it can possibly be: a . . . . . . . . . . . price 7. Prefixes. Choose a word from the box and then add the correct prefix to match each definition below competent funded leading perfect phrase relevant scrupulous used verbal 1. Communication without words: . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Not belonging to the matter in hand: . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Likely to make someone believe that something isn’t true: . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Not having the necessary skills to do a job: . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Behaving in a dishonest way: . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Explain something again using different words: . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Exploited too much: . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Not completely correct: . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Not provided with enough money: . . . . . . . . . . .