Ex. 10. Give the English equivalents to the following words and phrases.

 

кровный доллар (заработанный тяжелым трудом) __________________________________

современный деловой мир ______________________________________________________

найти способ _________________________________________________________________

обращать внимание ____________________________________________________________

изобретать новый товар ________________________________________________________

предпочтения потребителя ______________________________________________________

сокращать издержки ___________________________________________________________

товар лучшего качества ________________________________________________________

ускорить процессы производства ________________________________________________

передавать информацию _______________________________________________________

фактическое различие _________________________________________________________

убедить потребителей _________________________________________________________

кофе без кофеина _____________________________________________________________

безалкогольные напитки _______________________________________________________

 

 

Ex. 11. Group the following words into ten synonymous groups.

 

costs	significant	warranty	expenditures	essential
to provide	area	to know	to ensure	to obtain
important	spendings	to supply	guarantee	to search
to be aware	rival	problem	opponent	to understand
to purchase	to look for	field	task	assurance
competitor	challenge	to buy	to seek for	sphere

 

 

Ex. 11. Replace the words in italics by synonyms from the text or from Ex. 10.

 

look for ways to cut expenditures __________________________________________________

to be supplied at a better quality and a lower cost ______________________________________

it is essential for businesses to know ________________________________________________

once consumers obtain a product or service __________________________________________

an improvement on the rival’s product ______________________________________________

in which fields it has a competitive advantage ________________________________________

companies must constantly be seeking for ways _______________________________________

a tough problem for most businesses ________________________________________________

a longer guarantee or a lower price _________________________________________________

 

Ex. 12. Match the verbs with appropriate prepositions.

 

to compete	of
to provide	on
to be aware	from
to pay attention	for
to be satisfied	in
to concentrate	for
to look	to
to speed	with
to assist	through
to accomplish	up
to be different	with

 

Ex. 13. Fill in the gaps, using words and word-combinations from the text.

 

provide, productivity,advantage, costs, consumer acceptance, product, challenge, hard-earned,prices, research and development, quality

 

1. Doing _________________________ can give a company a competitive ____________ in the

marketplace.

2. Companies must constantly be looking for ways to cut _______and increase _____________.

3. In other words, competition should __________ the consumers with the best value for their

_______________dollar.

4. Global competition has made gaining_______________________ a tough____________ for

most businesses.

5. A company might invent a new ___________introducing the best___________ or the lowest

_____________

 

 

COMPREHENSION

 

 

Ex. 14. Match the beginnings of the sentences to their ends using the information from the text.

 

1.	Competition should provide the consumers	a.	to changing consumer wants, needs, and values.
2.	To be successful in today's very competitive business world,	b.	that a company does something better than a competitor.
3.	It is very important to pay attention	c.	a tough challenge for most businesses.
4.	Once consumers purchase a product or service and are satisfied with it,	d.	with the best value for their hard-earned dollar.
5.	To have a competitive advantage means	e.	while still making a profit if they are to be successful competitors in the long run.
6.	Companies must provide consumers with the best-quality product at the lowest cost	f.	it is important for businesses to be aware of what their competitors are doing.
7.	Global competition has made gaining consumer acceptance	g.	when a firm somehow differentiates its product or service from that of competitors.
8.	Competitive differentiation occurs	h.	they will typically purchase the same product again.

Ex. 15. Complete the ideas.

 

1. One way to remain competitive is...

2. To be successful in today's very competitive business world...

3. Doing research and development give a company a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

4. Competitive differentiation occurs when...

 

 

Ex. 16. Multiple choice. In the space provided write the letter of the item that best completes the statement.

 

___ 1. Competition can generally be classified into _______ main categories.

a) three

b) four

c) five

 

___ 2. Perfect competition exists when there is a large number of sellers producing _________ products or services

a) different

b) differentiated

c) identical

 

___ 3. In case of the monopolistic competition, each participant in this market structure has ___________ control over pricing.

a) no

b) little

c) some

 

___ 4. ___________ exists when a single seller controls the supply of a good or service and prevents other businesses from entering the field.

a) A monopoly

b) An oligopoly

c) A pure competition

d) Monopolistic competition

 

___ 5. Examples of monopolies are _____________.

a) utility companies

b) stock market and foreign exchange market

c) retailing businesses

d) agricultural products

 

___ 6. The businesses involved in an oligopoly type of industry are typically ____________.

a) very small

b) very large

c) of medium size

 

___ 7. It is believed that having more than one business competing for the same consumers will cause the products or services to be provided ______________.

a) at a better quality and a higher cost

b) at a better quality and a lower cost

c) at a worse quality and a lower cost

 

___ 8. It is important for businesses to find a way to compete _____________the competitors' product or service.

a) by matching or improving

b) by faking

c) by copying

 

___ 9. What does SWOT stand for?

a) Student With Outstanding Talent

b) Stupid Waste of Time

c) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

 

___ 10. Businesses can win consumers through ________________.

a) competitive differentiation

b) competitive advantage

c) competitive disadvantage

 

 

DISCUSSION

1. Under what circumstances is competition impossible?

2. How do marketing managers sometimes try to differentiate similar products? Give examples.

2. Do you think that competition stimulates the production of better goods? What role does

advertising play in competition?

 

 

Ex. 17. Translate the text in written form.

 

PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION

 

Modern capitalism is characterized by a large number of “limited” monopolies. They are sole suppliers of branded goods, but other firms compete with them by selling similar goods with different brand names. This is the market situation described as monopolistic or imperfect competition. Thus the commodities produced by any one industry are not homogeneous; the goods are differentiated by branding and the use of trade marks. The individual firm has a monopoly position, but it faces keen competition from firms supplying very similar goods. It has, therefore, only a limited degree of monopoly power – i.e. to what extent the firms are free to enter the industry. Product differentiation is created by the practice of competitive advertising which is, perhaps, the most striking feature of monopolistic competition.

Advertising is employed to heighten in the consumer’s mind the difference between Brand X and Brand Y. It is important to realize that we are concerned with the differentiation of goods in the economic sense and not in the technical sense. Two branded products may be almost identical in their technical features or chemical composition, but if advertising and other selling practices have created different images in the consumer’s mind, then these products are different from our point of view because the consumer will be prepared to pay different prices for them.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

FINAL QUESTIONNAIRE

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

1.What is competition?

2. What main categories can competition generally be classified into?

3. When does perfect competition exist?

4. How is the price of the product set in perfect competition industry?

5. What kind of products and services do producers produce in a perfect competition?

6. Is easy to enter or leave the industry in perfect competition?

7. Are there many or few competitors in a perfect competition?

8. What are the examples of a perfect competition?

9. When does a monopolistic competition exist?

10. What products or services are produced in a monopolistic competition?

11. What is the key to success in a monopolistic competition?

12. How can products be differentiated?

13. Do participants have any control over pricing in a monopolistic competition?

14. How many competitors are there in a monopolistic industry?

15. Why is the entry into the market fairly easy?

16. What are some examples of monopolistic products?

17. When does a monopoly exist?

18. Why can a monopolist fix its own price?

19. Are monopoly situations rare or frequent in market-directed economies?

20. Who usually regulates monopolies?

21. What are the examples of monopolies?

22. When does an oligopoly exist?

23. Why does an oligopoly occur?

24. Is it easy or difficult to enter or leave an oligopoly?

25. Why are the businesses involved in an oligopoly typically very large?

 

26. What should competition provide the consumers with?

27. What is important for businesses to be successful in today’s very competitive business

world?

28. What should attention be paid to?

29. What can give a company a competitive advantage in the market?

30. What should a company do if it wants to have a competitive advantage?

31. What does a SWOT analysis mean?

32. What is the most important way to remain competitive?

33. How can technology speed up production processes?

34. What has made gaining consumer acceptance a tough challenge for most businesses?

35. When does competitive differentiation occur?

36. What are common ways to differentiate a product or service?

 

TEXTS FOR READING

 

TEXT 1

MARKETING

Marketing is the process by which sellers find buyers and by which goods and services move from producers to consumers. There are many marketing activities. For example, advertising and selling are part of the marketing process. Other marketing activities include product planning, market research, financing by banks, and deliveries to shops and homes. Marketing is so important to industry that about half the cost of goods and services results from the marketing process.

A company must have an effective marketing programme to make its products and services attractive to customers. Every growing business engages in five major marketing activities:

1) market research;

2) product development

3) distribution

4) pricing;

5) promotion.

Market research is the study of the probable users of product or service. Such potential customers are called a market. It also examines competitive products and the way they are sold and distributed. In other words, market research is the process of gathering and analyzing information to help business firms and other organizations make market decisions. Market researchers estimate the demand for new products and services, describe the characteristics of probable customers and measure potential sales.

Product development includes determining the various goods to be offered to customers as well as developing the products themselves. Manufacturers continually meet the demands of the public by adding new products, changing existing ones, and dropping others.

Distribution. Businesses have to decide where to sell their products and how to get the product to the consumer, that is, what channel of distribution to use (direct selling; involving wholesalers or retailers; through agents). The method of distribution, that is, the type of transport that the manufacturer uses to deliver the products to the market is also important here.

Pricing is a very important part of the marketing program of a business. The following factors should be considered before deciding on the selling price of a product: 1) the selling price of the competitors’ products; 2) the production and distribution costs; 3) the target market for the product; 4) government legislation in relation to price control; etc.

Promotion includes advertising, catalogues, direct-mail, in-store displays and door-to-door sales. Companies engage in a variety of promotional activities to inform customers about products and services and to persuade them to buy.

TEXT 2

MARKET SEGMENTATION

 

Market segmentation means dividing a market into distinct subsets of customers with different needs, according to different variables that can play a role in purchasing decisions. These can include geographical factors – region, population density, size of town, and climate; demographic factors such as age, sex, family size, or stage in the family life cycle; and other variables including income, occupation, education, social class, life style, and personality.

If there is only one brand in a market, it is likely to be positioned in the centre, so as to attract the most consumers possible. Appealing to all groups from the centre with an undifferentiated product gives a company the largest potential market, while minimizingproduction, inventory, market research and product management costs. A new competitor can either situate its product next to the existing one, in a straightforward battle for market share, or try to find a corner of the market in order to gain the loyalty of a consumer group not satisfied with the central brand.

If there are several brands in the market, they are likely to position themselves fairly evenly throughout the space and show real differences to match differences in consumer preference. If, on the other hand, several producers are competing for the largest central segment, new entrants onto the market will probably find that smaller segments with less competition are more profitable. In fact, targeting a particular market segment is often the only realistic strategy for firms with limited resources, although it can be risky, as the segment might get smaller or even disappear, or be attacked by a large competitor.

At the beginning of a product’s life cycle, companies often produce only one version, and attempt to develop demand by undifferentiated marketing, before switching to differentiated marketing in the product’s maturity stage. Differentiated marketing involves developing several brands, each positioned in a different segment. This obviously maximizes total sales, but equally increases planning, market research, forecasting production, promotion, administration and inventory costs.

 

Text 3

The role of wholesalers

 

The wholesaler is very helpful to small retailers and manufacturers in many ways. Some of the services that wholesalers provide to the retailers are as follows.

· By buying in large quantities from the manufacturer, they can sell small quantities of the product to the retailer. A small retailer would not have the storage space or money to buy in large quantities from the manufacturer. A small retailer is unlikely to sell several thousand tins of beans in a few weeks. Where would it ail be stored?

· They give the retailer plenty of choice of products to purchase and to stock in their shop. If the retailer was to buy from the manufacturer, then they may not be able to stock many brands in their shop. They would not have the space to sell a lot of different brands if they had to buy in large quantities. Customers would not be happy if they had little to choose from and they may decide to shop elsewhere.

· Credit facilities are often made available to the retailer. This allows the retailer to have the products before they pay for them. If the retailer pays cash on collection for the products, they will usually get a reduced price. Being given credit facilities helps the cash flow of small businesses as they can sometimes have sold the goods and received the money before they have to pay for them.

· Information on products is given to the retailers, for example technical information or information on new product lines. The retailers will get to know about many different products and have better information about what sells well. Retailers can then give better advice to customers about the products they are selling in their shop.

· Delivery of the products can be made to the retailer. This saves the retailer time and money. The retailer can order a lot of stock even if they do not have a vehicle large enough to carry all the stock. A special vehicle may be needed, such as a refrigerated lorry, if frozen food is to be purchased. The small retailer is unlikely to have such a vehicle and will rely on the wholesaler delivering the goods for him. The wholesaler also provides services for the manufacturer.

TEXT 4