剑桥商务英语高级.doc

Unit 1aIve just moved from a company with a very strict hierarchy to a fast-growing software company and its been hard coming to terms with the changes. I mean, dont get me wrong, I enjoy my new job a lot more. I have a lot more responsibility now and everythings done in project teams and managed by objectives. The one thing I do miss however, is that now, once a projects running, the teams pretty much on its own and left to solve any problems by itself. Before, there was always a superior I could turn to for help, and to be honest, Id be much happier if that were still the case. Especially when youre starting a new job, having someone to talk to can make things a lot easier. I produce technical documents, you know, users manuals and that sort of thing nothing creative, Im afraid. Our teams responsible for its own work schedules. And as long as everythings finished before the machines shipped, its up to us when we do it. So youd think with e-mail and everything, wed all be able to work from home or come and go as we please but thats not the case. Unfortunately, its a very conservative company so everyones still clocking in and out at the same time. I suppose the managers have always worked a routine nine to five and just cant imagine anything else being possible. Im an IT consultant and Im working for a small leisure group on a one-year contract. So Im travelling around Europe a lot, which I know sounds very glamorous, but its just a case of jetting in, fixing a hotels computer and then jetting out again. It also mean Im on call and work very shall we say flexible hours, including many weekends. Oh and Im also responsible for the website, which I work on from home. What I miss is support from colleagues, you know, being able to discuss problems or things like the latest technology with other IT professionals in the same job. So, yes, its definitely the social side of my job Id like to improve. Well, Im a temp and Im working as a PA for a law firm in London just now. Its a medium-sized firm thats growth quickly so its organisation is very much like that of a smaller company. OK, I know its unreasonable to expect a definite job description I mean, if something needs doing, then I think whoevers available should do it. But Im already responsible for managing the diaries and correspondence of two senior managers, so when the telephones ringing all day and people keep asking me to photocopy reports or even make them coffee, it just becomes impossible to get anything done. I work for the UK subsidiary of a Japanese company and its very Japanese in terms of the way its run. Ive just got a new boss, whos come over from Japan. We seem to be getting on pretty well at the moment he always has time for me and gives me lots of support. The only thing is, I dont really have a huge say in what I do which is all right but sometimes it would be nice to be able to show a bit of initiative. Our work processes are totally standardized as fixed routines, which I dont mind. Its just that I always have to consult him before I can make even the smallest alteration to any job of any sort.Unit 1bI = Interviewer N = Neil I So, Neil, why did BT decide to introduce Options 2000? N Well, we started looking at flexible working back in 1993. And subsequent staff surveys showed that 96 per cent of our office-based staff wanted to work at home two or three days a week. We thought about how we could respond to this and soon realised that flexible working was very much a win-win-win situation. Its a win for technology, using our own products and practicing what we preach. And of course, it reduces BTs office space and cuts costs. But I think the real driver for change was accepting that our people wanted to work differently. I Right. And how many of them will actually end up working from home? N Our targets 10,000 by the end of the year. I 10,000! N Yes, thats out of about 55,000 office-based staff. I And what effect has this had on company structure? N Well, the companys been organised around business units for some time now. It used to be very much departmentalised, with work being done in series, you know, passed from one department to the next. But product life cycles are a lot shorter nowadays for the Internet, say, its less than 6 months even. So people come together for a specific purpose and then go off to join new projects when the jobs done. I So, these organisational changes must have had quite an effect on BTs culture. N Well, as I said, weve been developing a project-oriented culture. So, people now are paid for what they actually do and not for sitting at a desk from nine to five. But the really fundamental change is that weve become a lot more collaborative, both internally and in our dealings with partners and clients. And people are, of course, now getting used to working on several teams at once, which means they tend to get a lot more variety in their work as well. I Yes. And how about the technology? How do you help your teleworkers cope with it?N Well, people working from home have, I suppose, had to become more independent about coping with technology. But our corporate intranet is the largest in Europe and weve invested a lot of time and money in making sure theres enough on-line support for anyone using it. Oh, and there is some training available, of course. I And whats been the impact so far? N Well, its difficult to say whether productivitys risen or not. But surveys show that since people have had access to work 24 hours a day, theyve been working a lot longer days. In fact, weve just implemented a new training programme to help managers recognise this and deal with the situation. Because although some people might produce their best work under this kind of pressure, its certainly not the case for everyone. I Was that one of the challenges when implementing the programme? N Yes, as was getting the general concept over. Weve also had to adapt to the diversity of our flexible workers. Its not unusual, say, for 400 of them to be on the intranet at midnight. I Midnight? N Yes. I So, what happens when these people need stationery or when their computer crashes? N Weve had to develop 24-hours, 365-day-a-year support services. Id say that was probably our toughest challenge, actually. I And how have people adapted to working in these virtual teams? N Well, so far, very well. New teams usually meet at the start of a project. Of course, you can always find out about the other team members on the company intranet even before you meet them. After the first meeting, most communication is then done by e-mail, so weve had to work out guidelines on how to use e-mail, so weve had to work out guidelines on how to use e-mail more effectively. At the start we experienced some difficulties with people circulating far too much irrelevant information. And, of course, theres always one or two people who resist any form of change whatsoever. I And finally, how do you see the future of the office itself? N Well, I think flexible workings bound to increase but therell always be a place for the office. Therell always be a need for face-to-face contact because even teams working remotely still need to get together every now and again to refocus. Being tied to the desk, however, is history. In future, mobile personal information systems will have all the tools we need for our jobs. The days of putting bits of paper in drawers are definitely numbered, Im afraid.Unit 2aR = Richard K = Katie R Now, Internet stocks. They were going through the roof earlier this year until they ran into their recent difficulties. So the question is: has the bubble finally burst? Our technology correspondent Katie Johnson joins me in the studio. So Katie, first of all, what drove these prices up so high in the first place? K Well, all the hype about the Internet would have attracted some investors looking for a quick profit but I think the real driving force has been the fact that demand has far exceeded a limited supply. There were only a handful of Internet share offers last year, so opportunities to jump onto the Internet bandwagon have been very limited. R And all this is despite the fact theyre far from what youd call a safe investment. K Absolutely, yes. R But what about good old profits? Do they match the performance of the share prices? K Well, this is whats so fascinating. Take A, for example, the Internet bookseller. They have a market value of $18bn, turnover in excess of $1bn, and yet they havent even reached the break-even point. Apart from a couple of companies, such as Yahoo! And America Online, most of them are a long long way away from making any kind of profit whatsoever, never mind the huge profits everyones hoping for. R So why on earth is everyone so keen to invest in them? K Well theyre very trendy, and of course theres always the brand factor, which is another reason. Companies like Yahoo! And America Online now enjoy incredibly high brand awareness. But the real attraction is the tremendous potential for future revenue, particularly from advertising. Yahoo! Already has 144 million page hits a day and nearly 2,000 advertisers. And with Internet usage expected to double within five years, advertising spending is bound to increase. R But then how do analysts value these companies? K Well, its not easy. They have few assets in the traditional sense and they all show phenomenal growth in terms of turnover, so analysts are having to rely on alternative yardsticks to compare them. R Such as? K Such as things like audience reach. Lycos, another search engine like Yahoo!, saw its shares jump by more than a third recently when figures came out saying it reached 45 per cent of all home Internet users. R So, lets turn to the recent collapse in these share prices. Has the bubble finally burst? K Well, we were due a sell-off, so its not surprising that shareholders took advantage of the recent sharp rises. But I think whats really depressed prices is the flood of Internet companies that have floated recently and saturated the market with their hares. It seems that supply and demand are now leveling out. In fact, several companies have even seen their shares slide below the offer price. So, yes, enthusiasm does seem to be cooling. R Well, it seems to me that anyone investing in Internet shares is in for a bit of a rollercoaster ride. So just why I the market so volatile? K Well, its a very young market, dont forget. And many companies have been listed for only a couple of months. Also, a lot of people who invest in these stocks actually use the Internet to trade on-line. Without the brokers commission, they can afford to buy in and out of stocks several times a day. This makes the market very sensitive to any breaking news. And I think its this responsiveness which makes it so volatile. R So, Katie, the big question. Whats the market going to do next? K Well, Richard, thats the million dollar question, isnt it? Some of the prices being paid do reflect the value of these companies so I cant really see prices falling much more. And although confidence will return, enthusiasm is cooling so dont expect to see prices soaring in the near future. R So how do you see the future for companies in this sector? K Well, I think the sectors going to see lots of consolidation activity as the bigger players look to buy talent and market share. Lycos, for example, has just acquired HotBot, one of its rivals. Well also see one or two large established non-Internet companies looking to enter the market. The giant German publisher Bertelsmann, for example, has just entered into a joint venture with US bookseller Barnes and Noble to challenge Amazons dominance on the Net. And if the Internet continues to grow like it is, then a few of these companies are bound to see substantial returns on their investments.Unit 2bGood afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Im Steve Brown from the Zeneca Public Affairs Department. Im here today to tell you a little bit more about the merger between Zeneca and the Swedish pharmaceuticals company Astra. So, first of all, the boards of Astra and Zeneca have announced that there is to be an all-share merger of the two companies. The new company will be called AstraZeneca. Ill begin by going through the rationale for the merger and listing some of its benefits. Then Ill go on to give some details about the new board and talk about the financial effects of the merger. And finally, Ill give a brief summary of the terms, including details about dividends and so on.The merger is a natural step for both partners as they both share the same science-based culture as well as a common vision concerning the future of the industry. The benefits of this move are many. To begin with, the merged group will have an enhanced ability to create long-term growth and increased value for its shareholders. Furthermore, itll be able to deliver the full potential of its existing and future products through the joint strength and worldwide presence of its global sales and marketing operations. In fact, based on the joint pharmaceutical sales for last year, the AstraZeneca group will be the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world.The combined strength of the two R&D functions will also ensure an excellent basis for innovation-led growth. With a combined R&D spend of nearly $2bn, AstraZeneca will one of the largest R&D organizations in the world, which will mean that the company will also be of great interest to academic institutions and biotech companies seeking partners for their research programmes.At a strategic level, management is hoping that the merger will create sizeable operational efficiencies by restructuring areas of duplication. It has been calculated that synergies resulting from the merger could lead to cost reductions of over a billion dollars within the next three years. Although this sounds like a somewhat optimistic figure, we are quite confident that it can be achieved through streamlining the workforce, particularly in areas like administration and a restructuring of the two sales operations.Moving on to the board now, the board of AstraZeneca will be drawn equally from the two companies, with Tom McKillop, the Chief Executive, running the company along with his executive team. The board will be headed by Percy Barnevik, the non-executive Chairman, whose job it will be to check that strategy and policy are periodically reviewed and agreement is maintained. The two deputy Chairmen, Sir David Barnes and Hakan Mogren, both have extensive experience of the pharmaceutical industry and business in general. They will be available to advise and support the Chief Executive as necessary.Unit 3bSo, whats it like actually doing business with the Chinese? Well, its difficult to describe because in China theres still no commonly shared perception of whats reasonable or normal in international business, so standards and expectations vary widely from place to place. Thats why, when youre doing business in China, its imperative that you do extensive preparatory work. This means finding out about the particular company, industry, city or region where youre doing business and not just about the country as a whole.One of the first things to remember is that the Chinese find it most discourteous if you are late for meetings. It may be, of course, that your first meeting will be in your hotel, but if not, then allow plenty of time for the journey as in most Chinese cities the congestion is every bit as bad as in London. A good tip is to take a business card with the companys address written in Chinese to show the taxi driver. When you get there, you will be greeted by your host, usually a senior manager, and probably some of his or her staff. The visitors will then be ushered into the meeting room.The leader of your group will be expected to enter first and will generally be offered a seat beside the most senior Chinese person present. This person will usually chair the meeting and act as host and have a translator at his or her side. To begin with, all those present will swap business cards, in itself a very important ceremony, and there will be a short period of small talk. The host will then officially start proceedings with a brief introduction to the Chinese enterprise and its activities. The host may then invite the visiting team to speak. Now at this point its appropriate for the UK side to begin to make its case. Dont forget to warn your host beforehand if you wish to include any audio-visual aids during this presentation. Its also extremely important that your team should be able to answer any questions on any aspect of your business proposal, your own company and your international competitors.Following the meeting, the Chinese enterprise will probably arrange a special dinner for the UK guests. Small talk over dinner is essential for relationship-building. For most Chinese, the family counts above all else. It remains the dominant social and political unit in Chinese society so Chinese people will usually be very pleased to be asked about their children and their hopes for their childrens future. In social relationships Chinese people almost always seek to preserve harmony and face. Hosts believe it is their duty to offer their visitors hospitality, even though the visitors themselves may much prefer a day off after