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Look at the statements below and the article about outsourcing risks on the opposite page.
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 Outsourcing is risky for a company’s profile.
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Outsourcing Risks on Companies
A One of the main risks of outsourcing a task is that it will not be done to the specifications required. By having an outside company perform a task, a company runs the risk that the outside party will not have the same skill set and experience as in-house employees. A drop in quality can result in a drop in sales, as well as harm the company’s reputation among consumers.
B Another risk for a company that outsources to foreign countries is bad press. Some companies, particularly large companies, face criticism for hiring workers from other countries, generally at cheaper wages, instead of using American employees. If a company comes under significant attack for outsourcing, then its reputation may suffer, leading to a loss of business. However, smaller companies that use only modest outsourcing stand a low risk of this occurring.
C Not all foreign countries have the same economic and political stability enjoyed by the United States. Many countries, particularly those that are not democratic, may change laws that affect the business climate or experience political events— revolutions, wars, sudden changes in leadership—that make it difficult or expensive for outsourcers to complete a task. Therefore, companies that outsource to unstable countries run the risk of an interruption in business.
D Many times, outsourcing involves sharing proprietary information with an outside party. This raises the risk that this information will be shared with another party that will try to capitalise on it. For example, the design of a piece of software may be shared by the outsourcing company with a competitor. In some countries, intellectual property laws are not strong. This can result in severe losses for the hiring company.
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Read the article below about how companies can manage contact with customers.
Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
For each gap(8-12), mark one letter(A-Q)on your Answer Sheet.
Do not use any letter more than once.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
Customer Contact
Which of the following is the most important way of keeping in touch with your customers: telephone, e-mail, fax, letters, website, or face-to-face meetings? Despite the choice, there is only one correct answer.(0)G . Different customers have different preferences, so all types of contact are equally important.
The smart manager is, therefore, always looking for ways to improve the different types of customer contact—and there are plenty of helpful solutions out there to choose from.【P1】______. At the same time, email is rapidly catching up, while the volume of business letters is declining. So, you would think that a good place to begin your quest for better-managed customer contact is to look at what’s new in telephone and online technology.
It might, though, be better first to consider the factors that make for better contact management and see what can be done to improve them. The starting point for this is obvious: any type of customer contact is going to be more effective of the person handling it knows about the customer.【P2】______. When did these customers last order? What are their product or service preferences? What is their credit status?
To make improvements in contact operations possible, all the staff who have contact with the outside world need to have immediate access to the same data. The software that can provide this is known as customer relationship management, or CRM.【P3】______. Just as important, staff can
enter any necessary details about the client they are dealing with while the contact is actually in progress. The data from this contact are stored in the system immediately. Then, if the client calls back a few minutes later, whoever picks up the call can see exactly what has just happened.【P4】______
CRM systems can give a valuable edge even to companies that rely more on personal contact than on handling large numbers of phone calls and emails. Arguably, it is more important for senior executives to have fully up-to-date information to hand when talking to an important client than in any other situation.【P5】______. With the right laptop or hand-held PC, there are even ways of providing secure access when they are out of the office. In this way, managers need never be without the information they need, no matter where they happen to be.
Example:[*]
A To put it simply, contact relies on people, and successful contact relies on people with information at their fingertips.
B In spite of this, it would be extremely valuable if all members of staff could call up information on any of the company’s clients whenever they needed it.
C Software can deliver critical information to selected users on a need-to-know basis.
D For most businesses, the telephone is still the most commonly used channel of customer contact.
E Basically, it enables any member of staff to type in a name and within seconds have on the screen in front of them all they need to know about that particular customer.
F Once a member of staff has this recently processed information, he or she will be able to provide faster and more efficient service.
G That anyone who thinks that only one type of customer contact is sufficient is missing the point.
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Read the article below about the real intentions of customers and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question(13-18), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
Turning Consumers into Customers
The expression “supply and demand“ was first coined as “demand and supply“, by James Denham-Steuart in An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy, written in 1767. In his Inquiry, Denham-Steuart says of demand, “It must constantly appear reciprocal. If I demand a pair of shoes, the shoemaker either demands money, or something else for his own use,“ adding, “The nature of demand is to encourage industry.“ Nine years later, in The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith wrote, “The real and effectual discipline which is exercised over a workman is that of his customers. It is the fear of losing their employment which restrains his frauds and corrects his negligence.“
It helps to revisit these elementary lessons because we’ve been ignoring them on the Web—at the cost of billions of dollars in lost opportunities for businesses other than those driven by advertising and “ big data“ farming.
To see what I mean, consider this fact: you are not a customer of Facebook or Twitter. Nor of Google’s search, mail, and other free services. The actual customers of those companies are advertisers, not you. In fact, you and I are the products being sold to advertisers. No matter how well those companies serve us with free goodies, the fact remains that these companies’ consumers and customers are different populations, and we are among the former, and not the latter, because we pay them nothing. In Adam Smith’s terms, we do not employ them.
And, because we are merely consumers of these services, our concerns tend to be dismissed when they are in conflict with the ambitions of those services’ customers, the advertisers. This is why websites, advertisers and third parties take liberties with our personal data, our privacy, and our tolerance for “personalisation“ of messages that still fail 99% of the time. This causes two problems. One is abuse of consumers. The other is a lack of what we could bring to the market’s table—besides money—if we were full-fledged customers.
On the consumer protection front, the Tracking Protection Working Group of the W3C(the leading Web standards organisation)is meeting this week in Washington, as reported in an NPR story titled ’ Do Not Track’ Web Browser Option Gains Steam. Regulators and lawmakers in Washington are also on the case. Last year Sen. Jay Rockefeller introduced the Do-Not-Track Online Act. In February of this year, the White House published a Privacy Bill of Rights.
An excellent source of ongoing documentation of consumer abuse is The Wall Street Journal’s What They Know, a series of reports begun on July 31, 2010. And, since journalism alone has proven insufficient for reversing the tide of abuse, Julia Angwin and the WTK team are convening Data Transparency Weekend starting this Friday in New York. The purpose is to “build free Web tools that promote data transparency and control“. This is a strong move toward giving consumers the powers of customers, whether or not they pay anything.
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Read the article below about the principles of selling.
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).
The Principles of Selling
The principles of selling are useful for all people, whether they work in business, in not-for-profit organisations, or at home. Influencing people is an important(0)A of all interpersonal relationships. Thus, hermits may be the only people in our society who do not need to【C1】______the principles of selling.
Four-year-old children soon【C2】______the most effective way to sell their parents on a trip to the circus. As college students, they use more【C3】______techniques to convince their parents that they need a car at school. As young graduates, they are confronted with more important sales, job-selling themselves to an employer. To do this effectively, they will【C4】______the same essential steps used in marketing a sale. They【C5】______potential employers. They analyse the needs of the potential employer and the【C6】______points in their background. Then they develop a presentation to demonstrate how their capabilities are【C7】______with the employer’s needs. During the interviews, they answer questions and provide additional information. This is selling at a personal level.
An increasing number of people are studying selling【C8】______they do not plan on selling as a【C9】______. They recognise that almost everyone in business uses certain principles of selling in everyday work.【C10】______. executives are eager to sell themselves to associates, superiors, and【C11】______. The accountant uses selling to present a research budget for【C12】______. The industrial relations or personnel executive uses sales techniques to handle negotiations with a union.
People in non-business situations also practice the art of selling.【C13】______encourage people to come at services. Political candidates ask【C14】______votes. People who are skilled at influencing the【C15】______of others are usually the leaders in our society.
Example :
A aspect B view C way D phase
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Read the article below about the concept of marketing.
In most of the lines(34-45),there is one extra word. It either is 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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Marketing
0 What does the term marketing really mean? Many people mistakenly think
00 of it as advertising and selling. Given out the number of commercials on television,
【M1】in magazines and on newspapers and all the signs and offers in and around the
【M2】shops this is not surprising. However, the advertising and selling are only two
【M3】of several marketing functions, and not necessarily the most important ones.
【M4】The most basic concept underlying marketing is that all of human needs. We
【M5】have many needs including ones such as affection, knowledge and a sense
【M6】of belonging as well as the physical need for food, warmth and one shelter. A
【M7】good deal of our lives is devoted to obtaining what will satisfy by those needs.
【M8】Marketing can thus be defined as any human activity which it is directed at
【M9】satisfying needs and wants by creating and exchanging goods and value with others.
【M10】Marketing has become a key factor in the achieving success of western businesses.
【M11】Today’s companies face with stiff competition and the companies which can best
【M12】satisfy customers’ needs are those which they will survive and make the largest profits.
