BUSINESS VISION STUDENTS BOOK

Oxford University Press www.oup.com/elt

16 Change
KICK OFF
1
Look at the picture. What does it tell you about the way technology is
changing working life?
2
How much time, on average, do you spend on the Internet a day at work
and at home? Compare with a partner.
WORDS AT WORK
E-commerce
3
Read quickly through the text about Amazon. Underline three things about
Amazon or Jeff Bezos that you didnt know before or that interest you.
Compare with a partner.
4
Read the text again and nd the following information.
1 The rate at which Internet use was growing when Bezos decided to set
up Amazon.
2 How probable Bezos thought it was that Amazon would succeed.
3 The number of books in the rst Amazon catalogue.
4 Two reasons why one-click shopping was successful.
5 The location of the warehouse which serviced Amazon customers in
Asia.
6 Two things, apart from the actual books, that the early customers of
Amazon could nd on the website.
7 The two areas Bezos invested heavily in.
8 The reason why it was particularly essential Amazon to grow fast and
be on a large scale.
9 Two languages, other than English, in which Amazon customers can
buy books.
10 Two products, other than books, that Amazon now sells.
Palm-top computer
The Photographers Library/Candice Farmer
2 CHANGE
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borrowed
Change 17
5
Cover the text and try to complete the sentences below with the correct
form of the verbs in the box, as in the example.
expand invest lose borrow diversify ship
distribute grow
1 Bezos ________ money from his parents to set up Amazon.
2 The new company was very successful and ________ very rapidly, but
________ money.
3 Amazon ________ books to the whole world from two ________ centres in
the United States.
4 Bezos has ________ lots of money in advertising and online software
development.
5 Amazon has ________ into other products as well as books, including toys
and music.
6 The company has ________ into Europe and Japan.
6
Which of the following Internet services a do you use, and b does your
company use? Compare with a partner and discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of each.
1 booking airline tickets / theatre tickets
2 job nding / recruiting personnel
3 food shopping
A six country survey
revealed that the average
age of online buyers is 38,
over 50% are married, the
majority are male, and most
are graduates.The top three
items bought are
computers, books, and CDs,
and the favourite site
shopped (i.e. not just
visited) in all six countries is
Amazon.
Ernst and Young
pioneer (n) a person who is
the rst to develop something
retirement (n) period of
your life after you stop
working
set up(v) to begin or
establish a business
set out to to begin to do
something with a particular
aim / goal
obsession (n) one particular
idea or thing that you think
about all the time
mantra (n) a word / sound
which you repeat again and
again, like a prayer
to go bust (adj) when a
business loses all its money
Amazon
Pioneers in e-commerce
The founder and CEO of Amazon is a
former Wall Street banker, Jeff Bezos.In
the early 90s, he noticed that use of the
Internet was growing by over 2000%
per month.So, he borrowed his parents
retirement savings (around $300 000,
which he told them they had a 70%
chance of losing) and set up a company
to sell books online.
1.1 MILLION BOOKS
Bezos opened the virtual doors of
Amazon.coms online bookstore in July
1995 with a catalogue of no less than
1.1 million books.We set out to offer
customers something they simply
could not get in any other way, he says.
We brought much more selection than
was possible in a physical store (our
store would now occupy six football
elds) and presented it in a useful easy-
to-search format in a store open 365
days a year, 24 hours a day.
SELLING TO THE WORLD WITH ONE-
CLICK SHOPPING
Amazon enjoyed great success almost
from the start.The company had only
two distribution centres but they
shipped books across the whole world
the centre in Seattle serviced the
West Coast of the United States and
Asia, the one in Delaware serviced the
East Coast and Europe.The user-
friendliness and efciency of Amazons
pioneering one-click shopping
technology meant that customers who
tried buying books online for the rst
time often came back for more.
AN OBSESSION WITH CUSTOMERS
Obsess about customers, not
competitors was Bezoss motto in the
early days.Most of the customers out
there havent bought anything online,
he said in an interview in 1998.We
want to be their rst purchase if we
can.We want to have a very deep
relationship with them. Bezos made
the Amazon website more than just a
place to buy books.He created a
community of and for book lovers
with book reviews from readers, news
about the latest publications, even the
rst interactive novel.(American
novelist John Updike wrote the rst
chapters, and site visitors completed
the story.)
GET BIG FAST
Apart from customers, Bezoss other
obsession was growth. Our major
strategic objective has always been
GBF, he declared.Its a mantra inside
the company and it means Get Big Fast.
Amazon invested heavily in advertising
to attract new customers and in
developing online software.The
company grew, but made
greater losses every quarter.This didnt
seem to worry Bezos.His idea was that
the return for the huge xed cost
investment in software would
eventually come from Amazons
continuously growing customer base.
STILL EXCITED
Many of the early dotcoms went bust,
and the business world began to lose
condence in e-commerce.Amazon
however, expanded into Europe and
diversied into music and toys.By the
last quarter of 2000 it did nally begin
to make a prot.Bezos remains
optimistic: We have made it possible
for anyone in the world to buy a
German language book or a Japanese
language book, he says proudly.He is
still excited by the possibilities of
selling on the Net Because its a scale
business where costs are largely xed, if
we can have the largest scale, we can
have the best prices and the best
service, he explains,which in the
physical world would be impossible.
4 shopping for other items (what?)
5 news and information services
6 chat rooms
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18 Change
GRAMMAR AT WORK
Present perfect vs present simple
1
Look at the sentences 14 and explanations ad below.
1 This is the rst time Ive used a I want to know when you will leave.
this program. b I want to know when you arrived.
2 The rst time I use a new c This software is new to me.
program it never works. d I generally have problems with
3 How long have you been here? software.
4 How long are you here for?
1 Match each sentence with the appropriate explanation.
2 Which sentences are in the present simple tense, and which are in the
present perfect tense?
3 Complete the rule in the box below.
The ______ ______ is used to connect a present situation to a past event.
The ______ ______ is used to talk about the present, including situations
that occur again and again.
q
For more on the present perfect, see the Reference section page 127.
2
Read the sentences below, and note the difference between for and since.
Ive been with the company for six years. (focus on length of time)
Ive been a project manager since last year. (focus on when the situation began)
1 Now complete the sentences below with for or since.
a Hes only been in the job _____ May 2002.
b I havent seen him _____ a long time.
c I havent had a holiday _____ I started work.
d I worked abroad _____ several years.
e The new ofce has been open _____ 10 March.
f She hasnt enjoyed her job as much _____ she had a baby.
2 Ask your partner how long he / she has had his / her:
a house / at b car c current job d email
Present perfect vs past simple
3
Look at these two sentences. Which is in the present perfect and which is in
the past simple?
1 Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1995.
2 The company has expanded into Europe and diversied.
Complete the rule in the box below.
The ________ is used to talk about nished actions in nished periods of
time.
The is used to talk about ongoing or unnished situations in
ongoing or unnished periods of time.
One in three British men
and one in ten women now
work 50 or more hours a
week.Two-thirds of UK
managers believe that long
hours are harming their
health, relationships, and
productivity. Stress is the
biggest problem for
European companies and in
Japan work-related suicides
have doubled since 1970.
Personnel Today
Change 19
6
Write questions about your partners company. Use the correct tense
(present or past simple, present perfect ) of the verbs in italics. Then ask
and answer the questions with your partner.
1 When (be) your company founded?
2 Who (be) the CEO? How long he / she (be) CEO? Who (be) CEO before?
3 Company (expand / diversify) since it (be) founded?
4 How much impact (have) Internet on how your company works?
5 What (be) your main role in your company? How long you (have) that
role? What you (do) before?
6 What other work experience you (have)? You for any other companies?
(work)
7 Your companys revenues (increase) last year? What product / service (be)
your biggest seller?
8 How many projects you (be) involved in since joined company? What
progress (make) in your current project?
7
Prepare and present a short summary of either: a the history and
milestones of your company, or b your work experience.
4
Look at the questions and answers below.
1 Have you ever bought anything online? a No, the network was down all day.
2 When did you rst buy a computer? b Just a few books and CDs.
3 Have you used the Web today? c In 1991, a Macintosh.
4 Did you use the Web yesterday? d So far, only to download some
software.
1 Match questions 14 with answers ad.
2 Which tense is used for specic moments in the past?
5
Match each work situation 16 with an example sentence ae. Which tense
is used present perfect (PP), or past simple (PS)? See the example.
1 presenting the major events in the history of a company b PS
2 explaining the impact of a piece of new technology on company business
3 talking about the duration until now of a specic situation
4 talking about your career / life experiences without specifying exact dates
5 giving the results of last years business
6 describing the progress so far in a project
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d a
e b
f c
Ive been with the company for six years, and
since last year Ive been a project manager.
The company was founded in 2001 by a group of
software engineers.
In the rst quarter revenues increased by nearly
50 per cent.
Well, weve covered the rst three milestones,
and were still on schedule.
I think the Internet has completely revolutionized
the way we interface with customers.
Ive worked on several biotechnology projects,
and have been involved in systems development.
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20 Change
2.1
2
Now you are going to hear about the early history of Ferrari. Listen to Tim
Watson and answer the questions below.
1 When was the rst Ferrari made? 5 Does the rst car still exist?
2 When was the company created? 6 Why did Ferrari sell his cars
3 When did Enzo Ferrari build after racing them?
his own rst car? 7 Why was the rst Ferrari red?
4 Who did he build it under licence to? 8 When did Ferrari start making
cars in other colours?
1
How much do you know about Ferrari? Read the text and nd:
1 how many cars the company produces a year.
2 how long it takes to assemble a car.
3 how Ferraris can be customized.
4 how long you have to wait for a Ferrari driving course.
5 the different types of Ferrari customer.
1
Ferrari operate in 43 countries. The US is the largest
market, followed by Germany and the UK. Total annual
sales output is limited to about 3,500 cars.
2
All Ferraris are hand-made. None of the production
process is automated. When each separate part of the car
is nished, it takes about three days to assemble the car itself.
3
Customers can have their Ferraris customized. Features
that can be customized include the seats, the dashboard,
and colour of the stitching on the upholstery (made from the
hide of three cows).
4
Ferrari mechanics use a wind tunnel to improve
performance. If they succeed in increasing the speed
by even half a second, they are considered to have done a
good job.
5
Many features of the road cars derive from technologies
developed for Formula 1 driving. In fact the road cars can
be driven on the road or on the racing circuit.
6
There is a two-year waiting list for three-day intensive
Ferrari driving courses.
7
Ferrari has three very different customer types: wealthy
clients who buy the cars plus expensive merchandising
(steering wheel replicas, gold watches, etc.), racing fans who
buy hats and T shirts, and children. 35% to 40% of the
merchandise is aimed at this age group.
FERRARI
FACTS AND FIGURES
Name: Tim Watson
Position: International Press and PR
Manager
Company: Ferrari
Field of Business: Sports cars
Head Ofce: Maranello, Italy
THE INTERVIEW
Ferrari
Change 21
2.2
3
You are going to hear Tim talking about his job as International Press and
PR Manager for Ferrari. Listen the rst time and write down two things he
does or is responsible for in his new job, and one thing he nds particularly
interesting.
4
Listen again and answer the questions.
1 How many people work at Ferrari?
2 What happened at Silverstone recently, and what was Tim responsible
for in this situation?
3 What two things do the journalists who come to the factory want to do?
4 Why do things change quickly at Ferrari?
5 How long has Tim worked for Ferrari in Italy and what was his job in
England?
Listening tip
2.3
5
The -ed ending of the simple past and past participle can be pronounced in
three different ways. Listen to the pronunciation of offered, worked, and
created then practise saying the three sounds aloud.
/ d/ offered / t / worked / I d/ created
2.4
6
Put the verbs below into the correct column of the table. Then listen and
check your answers.
watched joined happened experienced
remembered stressed restricted followed
launched studied moved developed
7
Say the verbs aloud, and write down the number of syllables. Then listen
again and check your answers.
e.g. looked /lUkt/ = one syllable. The e is silent.
2.5
8
Listen to these words what happens to the vowels in bold?
1 business 2 secondary 3 different
2.6
9
Cross out the vowels in the words below that are not usually pronounced.
Then listen and check your answers. Practise reading the words aloud.
1 secretary 3 Wednesday 5 comfortable 7 personal
2 interesting 4 preferable 6 temperature 8 average
bk
Talking point
Tim Watson talks about the speed of change at Ferrari. How quickly do / can
things change in your company? What has changed since you joined the
company? What changes would you like to see?
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22 Change
2.7
2
Two people are talking before a business meeting. Listen and answer the
questions.
1 Have the two people met before?
2 What do they talk about?
3 How many questions does the man ask? What questions could he ask?
4 When the man answers the questions he does not give any additional
information. What additional information could he give in each case?
5 What impression of each other do you think the two people have at the
end of this conversation?
2.8
3
Listen to another version of the same conversation. Is it more or less
successful than the one in
2
? Why?
4
A successful conversation is about collaboration and taking equal responsibility.
Discuss ways of taking equal responsibility in a conversation. Try to nd
three things you can do to make a conversation successful. Then compare
with the tips on page 23 opposite.
a Im very sorry but Im afraid I have to go now.
b Hi, Im Pete.
c Goodbye.
d It was very nice meeting you. I hope I will be
able to see you again soon.
e Bye.
f Jo this is Kate. Kate this is Jo.
g It was great meeting you. Hope to see you
again soon.
h Pleased to meet you Ms Wong.
i Hi Kate. [Good to meet you.]
j How are you?
k Ms Smith, can I introduce you to Catherine
Wong? Ms Wong works in Marketing.
l Good morning / Hello. May I introduce
myself? My names ...
m How are you doing? / How is it going?
n Sorry, but I have to go now, Ive got a meeting
in ve minutes.
BUSINESS SKILLS
Successful conversations
1
How often do you socialize as part of your job? Match the correct formal (F)
and informal (I) expressions below with descriptions 17, as in the
example.
1 introducing yourself for the rst 4 replying to an
time F I introduction F ____ I ____
2 asking about someones life / 5 expressing pleasure in
health in general F ____ I ____ having met someone F ____ I ____
3 introducing people who dont 6 nishing the
know each other F ____ I ____ conversation F ____ I ____
7 saying goodbye F ____ I ____
b 1
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According to the EU, 47% of
Western Europeans speak
English well enough
to carry out a conversation,
32% can speak German and
28% French. 69% of
European managers have a
good working knowledge
of English. An estimated 1.3
billion people speak English
as a second language.
Fortune
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Change 23
2.9
5
Now listen to a conversation between another two colleagues who are
waiting for a meeting to begin. Tick () the tips that the speakers use.
6
Work with a partner. Each choose two of the topics below to talk about.
Prepare by writing some questions and possible follow-up questions for
each topic. Then have a conversation lasting at least three minutes.
1 your last / next weekend 4 an interesting website
2 a recent meeting 5 something you saw on TV recently
3 your last / next holiday 6 your last / next project
7
How successful was your conversation? Answer the following questions.
1 Did you both show interest in what the other was saying? How?
2 Did you ask follow-up questions?
3 How far did you develop the topic?
4 Did you collaborate and take equal responsibility for the success of the
conversation? How?
8
Work with a different partner. Student A, look at the information in File 4 on
page 109. Student B, turn to File 12 on page 112.
TEN SUCCESSFUL
CONVERSATION TIPS
When someone is talking you
can show interest and
develop the conversation by:
I 1 Reacting positively with
phrases or exclamations, e.g.
Thats interesting. Really? Exactly.
Wow! Fantastic! Yeah. Uh huh.
Right. I see.
I 2 Asking a follow-up
questions, e.g. A: Where did you go
on holiday this summer? B:To
Barcelona A: Oh really? Have they
nished building the Sagrada
Familia yet?
I 3 Restating a part of what the
other person has said, e.g. A: The
food was terrible. B:Terrible? A: Yes,
we went to this new restaurant and

I 4 Paraphrasing or agreeing
with what someone has just said,
e.g. A: That meeting yesterday was
totally unproductive B:Yeah, a
complete waste of time.
When you are talking you
can avoid dominating the
conversation by:
I 5 Transferring the speakers
original question back to them,
e.g. And what about you? Did you
go anywhere interesting this
summer?
I 6 Asking them if they have
had a similar experience, e.g.
Have you ever been to Barcelona?
I 7 Asking them their opinion
about the topic of conversation,
e.g. So what do you think ?
You can avoid embarrassing
silences by:
I 8 Listening carefully and
occasionally summarizing what
they have said or making relevant
comments that will encourage
them to continue on the topic,
e.g. So you went to Barcelona by
train. That must have taken a long
time.
I 9 Going back to something
the other person said earlier in the
conversation, e.g. You were saying
that you went to Barcelona. Did you
manage to visit other parts of Spain
too?
I 10 Beginning a new topic of
conversation, e.g. Have you heard
theyre going to raise taxes in the
next budget? Did you see that lm
on the TV last night?