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Look at the statements below and the extract on the opposite page from a report to staff by the Davis Group, a human resources consultancy in the USA.
Which section(A, B, C or D)does each statement(1-7)refer to?
For each statement(1-7), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
You will need to use some of these letters more than once.
Example:
0 It is less expensive to maintain the current customer base than to increase it.
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Report for Staff
A It has been a challenging year, with the global economy contributing to increased market competition. However, the end results were fairly respectable, especially considering the industry’s generally poor financial results. The Davis Group has always focused on growing revenue, solving client problems, identifying new opportunities and winning new clients. Although the company had to spend more time than usual this year on cost control, our people continued to listen to their clients and deliver appropriate consulting solutions.
B Although we have changed our name and introduced a new global brand, many clients still do not regard us as a broad-based human resources consultancy. We hope that our new international campaign, which explains to clients the wide range of services we offer, will help change that perception. It is significant that 50% of our revenue this year came from outside the USA, making us a truly global player. We have enormous growth potential, especially in emerging markets such as Asia and Latin America.
C These days, most of our clients, even those with operations in only one country, compete in a global marketplace. As a result, they see the value of working with us. Our strength on the ground in many countries has allowed us to share knowledge to develop and deliver world-class solutions. For those clients who are global firms, our worldwide presence has allowed us to build international networks to address their special needs. They appreciate that our intellectual capital is based on a deep understanding of local needs and conditions.
D We continually aim to maximise our revenue and enhance professionalism across the solutions offered by the firm. Obviously, winning new clients is always important, but we should remember that it is often easier and more cost-effective to broaden relationships with existing clients. By providing a wider range of solutions, we add value, strengthen our clients’ view of us as a trusted advisor and build long-term partnerships. Our success is based on being known as the most professional and highest quality firm in the human resources consultancy business.
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Read the article below about developments at a bank.
Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
For each gap(8-12), mark one letter(A-G)on your Answer Sheet.
Do not mark any letter more than once.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
The Pan-Slavic Trading Bank
When Miroslav Novak started work as a graduate trainee, his employer, the Pan-Slavic Trading Bank(P-STB), was a state-owned bank specialising in export trade. Though only the country’s fourth bank in size and turnover, it was well run and had a proven track record.(0)___G___ Despite its inclusion in the government’s programme of privatisation, expansion or major change were not on the agenda.
Today, ten years on, Miroslav has come a long way from his modest beginnings. Recently appointed director of the branch network, he now sits on the executive board.【P1】______ Of particular concern is the fact that the P-STB has become a retail bank, no longer dealing exclusively with large companies. This sector has, in fact, been downgraded to secondary status, since the most important market is seen to be elsewhere.
The new emphasis is on offering a wide range of products to the general public. 【P2】______ When this policy was first put forward, Miroslav and his colleagues doubted its feasibility, since it was not part of their financial culture. The directors went ahead with their plans, however, and, as success followed success, their doubting employees were forced to admit to having been mistaken.
The source of the P-STB’s change of direction was to be found abroad; the directors of a bank from Luxembourg had been monitoring the progress of the P-STB as it moved towards privatisation.【P3】______ After lengthy negotiations, including with government departments, the Luxembourg bank was successful and became the majority shareholder. The P-STB now found itself the subsidiary of a foreign bank.
No time was wasted in flying in a team of managers from the parent company. No sooner had they arrived than major changes began to be implemented.【P4】______This was exciting and challenging, but there was a high price to pay. The average working day increased from eight to twelve hours almost immediately, and several of the longer-serving staff were given early retirement. Those who remained felt extremely uncomfortable about the contrast in their fortunes.
The next few months under new ownership were extremely demanding and Miroslav found little to be optimistic about. 【P5】______ Miroslav grew to enjoy the demands made on him, and before long was promoted to his present position, with responsibility for converting all the branches in the network to retail banking. He spends less time than he would like with his family, and still misses former colleagues, but the work itself is more satisfying than he could ever have imagined.
Example:[*]
A Liking what they saw, they put in a bid, in fierce competition with at least five other financial institutions.
B Despite this, and although he is one of the relatively few to have prospered, he feels that his position is far from secure.
C Gradually, though, as the new structure took shape, the bank began to feel like a modern company with an exciting future.
D Young employees were given responsible positions, including Miroslav, who was put in charge of a department.
E The bank has, in effect, become a financial supermarket, where customers can purchase the services they need ’off the shelf.
F They decided that it was the right moment to exploit this area of weakness.
G With a client base restricted to national corporations, for whom it financed overseas trade, the P-STB put its success down to reliability and conservatism.
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Read the article below about Marc Hooper, CEO of the confectionery group Spartan Ketley, and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question(13-18), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
Marc Hooper, CEO of Spartan Ketley
Marc Hooper, not long promoted to CEO of confectionery giant Spartan Ketley(SK), is very different from his predecessors. He is a corporate lawyer by training, and his background has clearly shaped his management style. He was taught that no work should go unchecked and that no statement can go out without everything being fully defined. The legal world teaches you to think in a synthetic way, to take contrasting ideas and thread them together to form a strategy’ Hooper, with little marketing experience, was not at the top of market observers’ lists for the job. But here he is, just over a year into the role and seemingly on top of things.
Educated at Harvard University, Hooper started his career with well-known New York consultants Cox & Leight(C&L), and became a specialist in mergers and acquisitions. ’It was a tremendous training ground and I could have stayed in mergers and acquisitions - I found the work interesting.’ But another opportunity presented itself: SK offered him a job as general advisor. Hooper knew SK well because C&L was its main New York consultancy firm and Hooper looked after its account.
Hooper liked SK and when they came calling, several factors weighed on his mind. ’I admired SK and thought it would be a great place to work. C&L had told me I was only five years through a ten-year journey to become a partner. Also, for three years in a row my pay at C&L had stayed the same. Finally, I was working very long hours in a large, impersonal office and it seemed like an intelligent lifestyle decision to take a job with a different company.’
Hooper became established at SK, and soon felt ready for a higher position, but was told that no one could get on at SK unless they had been in sales and marketing. ’I had to make a move,’ says Hooper. ’I took a risk; I became head of marketing in Europe.’ In fact this was a sideways move - not for more money but to add to his knowledge and to further his career. The first challenge was that he found himself in charge of 25 bright young marketing people. ’I had to work hard to keep up,’ he admits.
Throughout, he has remained focused, his eye always on the main prize. His elevation to CEO, he says, is proof of SK’s inclusiveness. ’We are always open to people with fresh ideas. As CEO I support anyone who is willing to take a chance and who wants to stretch themselves. If you are keen to develop and prove you can succeed, this company will provide the challenge you need.’ And in line with this philosophy, Hooper is not an autocratic leader: his style is to consult, to seek advice, then to act.
SK has grown quickly, mostly by acquisition. Hooper sits at the head of an empire that employs 50,000 people in 130 factories. His chief mission is to reduce waste in the company, to bring down costs, and to produce funds to reinvest - all the time keeping ahead of competitors. ’We must generate growth on a consistent basis. We’ve also got to generate more cash for investment in marketing.’ The latest development, the purchase of a chocolate manufacturer for $42 billion - a deal managed by Hooper - has made it one of the largest confectionery groups in the world.
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Read the extract below from the annual report of a company with manufacturing interests around the world.
Choose the best word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.
For each question(19-33), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
Manufacturing Strategy
During the last year, we announced the significant(0)___B__.of our plastic sheeting plant in Malaysia, which, together with the acquisition of the Javanese factory, will approximately double the Group’s manufacturing【C1】______The cost of this development is within【C2】______and will be approximately $5.6m, of which $2.7m was incurred during the previous year. It is on schedule to【C3】______increasing volumes from October 2009.
Following the【C4】______of plastic tubing manufacture from Germany to Thailand, we have effectively doubled the capacity of this facility at an【C5】______cost of $12m. The project is set to cost less than the original【C6】______and is on target for increased production by June 2010.
In February, we announced our【C7】______to sell our factory in Ireland. This decision is in line with the Group’s strategy of【C8】______on our core categories of branded products.
In June, we announced investment in a new state-of-the-art UK manufacturing facility for specialist plastic components. This facility will be【C9】______by mid 2009 and will increase the Group’s capacity to manufacture products efficiently in-house. At the same time it will【C10】______about 200 new jobs in an area of high unemployment. The factory is to cost approximately $24m, towards which government【C11】______ of up to $4m are already available. Sadly, as part of this move, we announced the 【C12】______of our Blackburn facility, which is due to take place in the early part of 2010.
As part of our commitment to effective external communications with all our stakeholders, in October we【C13】______the corporate website, which is now providing up-to-date information on the Group and we look forward to receiving 【C14】______from users of the site. Existing product websites are now in the 【C15】______of being redesigned as part of the global rebranding strategy.
Example:
A extension B expansion C accumulation D inflation
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Read the text below about information technology(IT)training.
In most of the lines(34-45), there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.
If the line is correct, write CORRECT, on your Answer Sheet.
If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.
The exercise begins with two examples(0 and 00).
Examples:[*]
IT Training
0 The arrival of a sophisticated computer system is a such big event in any
00 organisation, but it is obviously difficult to make the most of this type of investment
【M1】without proper training. IT training can be expensive cost and, despite the good
【M2】intentions of the people are involved, a huge amount of training is wasted every year.
【M3】Quite frequently, until staff continue to struggle with computer systems that either
【M4】they do not understand, or they can only exploit to a fraction of their true
【M5】potential. A common mistake is made to rush in and train people too soon. This is
【M6】to be expected. Quite reasonably, the logic is so that it is better to train people early
【M7】than not to do it at all. The difficulty, however, is that people’s memories are short, so it is
【M8】better to train people when the ’go live’ date which is known. This way their knowledge
【M9】will still be fresh when they have to put it into practice. It may also be an error
【M10】to commission an external training organisation because of their standard materials
【M11】may not be suitable. An alternative one is to pilot the software with a team of capable
【M12】employees and once again they are familiar with its operation, they can then train other staff.
