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Look at the statements below and the information on the opposite page about feedback on staff performance.
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 the reluctance of companies to base pay on staff feedback
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Changes in Performance Feedback
A In the past, feedback about your performance used to mean a quiet chat with the boss. But now 360-degree feedback - the system where employees are also given feedback from peers and from the people they manage - is taking root in corporate culture. The system is characterised by greater participation and has grown out of the desire of companies to create more open working environments where people work better together and ideas and opinions are exchanged between teams and across levels of seniority.
B PCs linked to the company IT network are set to become the feedback machines. Many firms introducing 360-degree feedback are using Personal Development Planner software. Feedback on an individual, which is based on a questionnaire relating to attributes needed for that person’s role in the company, is collected using this electronic system. All the information gathered is analysed and the end result is a suggested development plan. The advantage is that individuals make requests for the feedback themselves and receive the results directly.
C Sarah Rains, from the pharmaceutical company Optec, said, Now feedback is available on our network, we encourage managers to choose how they use it. It is a flexible tool and we tell them that waiting for the annual event of a formal appraisal needn’t apply.’ At the engineering company NT, 250 technical managers have been through the feedback process. Jack Palmer, a senior manager there said, ’We needed to develop the interpersonal skills of these technically-minded people. In particular, we wanted to build on their team-working and coaching skills.’
D So, how is the new feedback culture likely to affect you? It could form the basis of your personal development programme, providing pointers to your strengths and also to those areas you need to develop more. Or feedback could be used for ’succession planning’, where companies use the information to speculate on who has the right skills to move into more senior positions. As yet, few organisations have stretched the role of feedback so far as to link it to salaries. But one thing is clear: the future will bring even wider participation by all members of staff.
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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 magazine article below about Andy Seymour, the Chief Executive of a chain of book stores called Bookroom, and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question(13-18), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
CHALLENGING TIMES AT BOOKROOM
Bookroom isn’t a very successful company at the moment. It’s heavily in debt, and it’s rumoured that its owner, P&K, wouldn’t turn down a suitable offer. Even its own store managers are said to be unhappy - those who haven’t left, that is. A recent change in strategy is proving too much for many of them: they’ve been told to concentrate on giving more space to a limited number of bestsellers, advertised nationally by the company, and not to titles which sit on the shelves for weeks.
The challenge of taking Bookroom back into profit falls to the Chief Executive, Andy Seymour, who was moved a year ago from P&K’s music chain, MusicWorld, with an impressive record of efficiency improvements. He increased the floor space of the more successful MusicWorld stores and closed down the loss-making ones. New computer systems gave him better stock control, and allowed him to produce up-to-date charts of the top CDs for display in the stores, with a positive impact on turnover and profits. In addition, he negotiated a pay and productivity deal with the employees. All in all, it was a period which saw the chain reach its peak.
Seymour, though, doesn’t take any credit for MusicWorld’s success. ’Even before I became Chief Executive, all the stores were run by top quality people doing everything they could, at a time when the public weren’t spending much on leisure,’ he says. ’They all stayed on, and that was the decisive factor. The only things I did were to change the advertising agency - they weren’t keeping up with developments in the music industry - and make some minor innovations in the stores. Customers were coming into the shops, and it was up to us to make the most of this.’
Luck had been against him in his previous job, though, as operations director of Clarkson’s, the do-it-yourself retailer which P&K had just acquired. Soon after his move to the company, there was a recession, which meant that the market for home improvement products collapsed. Seymour was involved in endless consultations with the board, discussing ways to turn the company round. They were in a high-risk situation and, despite his efforts, Clarkson’s lost millions. But even when things were at their worst, Seymour didn’t resign, as most would have done, and he was highly thought of for that.
He has a reasonable track record, certainly, but some would say not brilliant. And will he succeed at Bookroom? His first year has been disappointing, but there are signs of improvement. He’s continued the strategy of opening new shops, and although many store managers have gone, their replacements have been picked carefully. He’s also done something about one of the main reasons for the present difficulties, reducing targets to allow for the fact that the book market is still flat.
Seymour is an experienced retail manager. At MusicWorld he proved himself a good manager of people with a particular gift for motivating his staff. But he’s also strong on detail, and has already improved Bookroom’s financial control. It looks as though his strategy will pay off in the long term. The only thing you could blame him for is not being strong enough in opposing all the negative talk about Bookroom, because that is what is damaging the company. And unless Seymour does something about that, he may find himself looking for a new job.
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Read the article below about a company that sells household products.
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).
DAC’s Margins Hit in Battle of the
Brands
In a surprise trading statement, DAC Household Products yesterday gave (0)___C___of lower margins and weak profits growth. Shares in the company slumped by 22p to 459p after DAC said that its forecast of double-digit earnings growth in 2009 had been【C1】______to low single digits. The company【C2】______that it had failed to spend enough on promoting its own brands and conceded that its market share in India was under assault from【C3】______discounting by various competitors. Its major rival, KC Products, is offering big price discounts to attract consumers from DAC brands, which have traditionally【C4】______the household products sector. DAC also predicted a downturn in consumer【C5】______and strong price competition in Europe, and signalled that it was making【C6】______for an expensive brands battle.
DAC’s chairman, David Chan, said that sales volumes had behaved as predicted, but that waves of discounting and store promotions from rivals had adversely【C7】______price forecasts. As a【C8】______the company now needed to increase investment in advertising and introduce keener pricing.
DAC had until【C9】______sought to increase revenue growth at the same time as improving profit margins. However, Chan confirmed that margins would be【C10】______as DAC increased spending on advertising and promotion to【C11】______those products under attack from competing brands. This commitment means【C12】______the long-term health of the business ahead of the【C13】______.of short-term financial targets,’ he said.
Rudy Mitcham, DAC’s finance director, said that the company’s recent cost-cutting programme would be【C14】______.to help finance the increased spending, although he declined to reveal the【C15】______.amount of money it would invest in additional advertising and promotion.
Example:
A advice B caution C warning D threat
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Read the article below about market research.
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 a 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).
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Market Research
0 Market research involves in collecting and sorting facts and opinions from specific groups
00 of people. The purpose of research can vary from discovering the popularity of a political
【M1】party to assessing whether is a product needs changing or replacing. Most work in
【M2】consumer research involves interviewers employed by market research agencies, but
【M3】certain industrial and social research is carried out by any specialist agencies. Interviews
【M4】may be with individuals or groups and can last anything as from minutes to an hour or
【M5】more. In some interviews, people may be asked to examine or try out products before
【M6】giving up their opinion. Successful interviewers tend to like meeting people and should not
【M7】only be shy of addressing strangers. Interviewers are usually expected to work
【M8】unsupervised, organising their own workload. Self-discipline is absolutely essential - and
【M9】as are good health and energy. There are no specific age limits for such a work though
【M10】many agencies prefer to employ older applicants with experience of meeting people.
【M11】Market research agencies which frequently organise training, where trainees learn how to
【M12】recognise socio-economic groups and practise approaching to the public. For information on market research training and qualifications, contact the Market Research Association.
