The economy of great Britain

Lead-in:

1. output – продукція

2. employment – зайнятість

3. recession – занепад

4. rate of inflation – інфляція

5. income tax rate – податкова ставка

6. turnover – обіг (оборот)

7. inward investment – внутрішні інвестиції

8. merger – злиття

 

 

Britain's economy is based primarily on private enterprise, which accounts for 75% of output and nearly 70% of employment. Just over 2% of the British workforce is engaged in agriculture, a lower proportion than in any other leading industrial country. Services contribute a growing proportion of production — 65%, while manufacturing accounts for 21%. By successfully exploiting oil and natural gas from the North Sea, Britain has become self-sufficient in energy and expects to remain so for some years. Exports, mainly to other EC countries, are equivalent to over half of domestic oil production.

International trade plays a vital role in Britain's economy. Exports of goods and services make up around 25% of national output. From 1981 to 1989 the economy experienced eight years of growth, but in 1990 with the recession in Britain and other major industrialised nations, growth slowed to about 1%. The rate of inflation went down in the early 1980s, went up in 1988, and dropped again in 1992. The unemployment rate in the country is about 10% of the workforce. Growth of manufacturing productivity in Britain is generally faster than in all other leading industrialised countries.

The Government economic strategy is centred on keeping the rate of inflation down, within a range of 1 to 4%. As part of this strategy, public spending and borrowing is tightly controlled. At the same time government policy tries to improve the working of markets and promote enterprise and efficiency. A substantial amount of activity has been transferred from the public to the private sector through privatisation and contracting out. Since 1979, forty six major businesses have been privatized, including British Gas, British Telecom and British Steel.

The Government tries to take measures to reduce personal and corporate income tax rates. Industrial relations have been put on a more secure legal footing, and training opportunities have been expanded. Small businesses employ more than a third of private sector workforce and are responsible for one-sixth of total turnover.

The Government provides assistance and guidance to help with problems affecting small companies. Britain is considered to have an attractive location for inward investment because of its membership of the EC. Though markets in Britain operate as freely as possible, Government regulates monopolies, mergers and anti-competitive practices.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

What is Britain’s economy based on?

2. Is international trade important for Great Britain?

3. Was the rate of unemployment high in Great Britain?

4. What is the Government economic strategy centered on?

5. How does the Government try to reduce income tax rates?

 

 

MY UNIVERSITY

Lead-in:

1. extra-mural (part-time department) – заочне відділення

2. to be run by – управляти

3. staff – персонал

4. to provide an access to – забезпечувати доступ

5. to be at sb’s disposal – бути в розпорядженнікогось

 

 

I am a student of Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after M.Tugan-Baranovsky. It is a leading university in our country and one of the oldest ones, it was founded in 1920. Studying at our university has always been prestigious and it is even more prestigious nowadays because our country has stepped onto the road of the transition to the market-based economy and needs qualified professionals in this field. Graduates from our university must be ready to work in National, regional and municipal bodiesof the national economy and they have to meet all the requirements to specialists of present time.

The University comprises 4 institutes and 3 faculties in its structure:

¾ the institute of finance and accounting;

¾ the institute of economics and management;

¾ the institute of processing and refrigerating equipment;

¾ the institute of post-graduate education;

¾ the international faculty of training foreign specialists;

¾ the faculty of marketing, trade and customs activity;

¾ the faculty of hotel-and-restaurant business.

The University trains specialists for various fields of our economic life.

More than 11.000 students from Ukraine and from foreign countries study here. Students are trained in 12 specialities and you can get two or more professions at the same time. For those who combine work and study there is an extra-mural (or part – time) department, and I am a student of the part-time department.

The University is run by Rector and four Pro-Rectors. These is the director at the head of each institure and the dean at the head of each Faculty A qualified teachers’ staff work here: a lot of well-known scientists and experts in economics, finance, management, trade and public catering deliver lecture and run practical classes.

Those who complete the course successfully are qualified for a wide range of jobs and further courses according to the educational scheme of the University.

There are 7 academic buildings where you can find a lot of lecture-rooms, computer classes, laboratories. Our University provides an access to special literature in Ukrainian, Russian and English, because our library has a large collection of books, journals and other papers in economics, engineering and technology of foodstuffs.

Our University is provided with its own computer classes and students have an access to a wide range of statistical database and software, to the Internet. Students and teachers of our university are involved in a very wide range of research projects, international projects with our foreign partners. There is no need to say that we can’t do without foreign languages, and first of all, English, because it is the language of international cooperation.

No doubt we must get a fundamental basis of knowledge, that is why we study both theoretical and applied subjects.

Our students are provided with sports and recreation facilities, three gymnasiums with the modern equipment are at our students’ disposal and they also have an access to free medical assistance.

I’m proud to be a student of this educational establishment and invite all my younger friends to enter my University.

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What University do you study at?

2. Who is it run by?

3. How many faculties are there in its structure?

4. What is your faculty / institute?

5. Can students combine work and study?

6. What facilities are students provided with?

 

 

MY SPECIALITY. ECONOMIST

Lead-in:

1. enterprise – підприємство

2. utility – корисність, економічна вигідність

3. assume – брати на себе, приймати

4. responsibility – відповідальність, зобов’язання, обов’язок

5. entrepreneur – підприємець

6. acquire – набувати, здобувати, досягати

7. facilities – засоби, вигоди, сприятливі, умови, пільги

8. income – прибуток, дохід, надходження

9. employment – зайнятість, наймання, робота, служба

10. abundance – велика кількість, безліч

 

I am a student of the economics and management institute.

My speciality is economy of an enterprise and I am going to be an economist. An economist is someone who studies the way in which money and goods are produced and used in the systems of business and trade.

Generally economists focus on the way by which individuals, groups, businesses, enterprises and governments seek to achieve efficiently any economic objective they select. As economists say, they maximize utility.

For their parts, economists seek as much profit as they can extract from their operations. As an entrepreneur I will have to assume the responsibility and the risk for a business operation with the expectation of making a profit.

The entrepreneur generally decides on the product to select, acquires the facilities needed; and brings together labour, capital and production materials.

The job of the research economist is to increase our understanding of economic matters. The tools of statistics and mathematics help the researcher carry out this task. Government agencies and private business firms generate a vast array of economic statistics on such matters as income, employment, prices, and expenditure patterns.

Economics is a social science. The fields of political science, sociology, psychology, and economics often overlap. Because of the abundance of economic data and the ample opportunity for scientific research in the real world, economics is sometimes called the "queen of the social sciences". Once you have developed the economic way of thinking, economics will be relatively easy.

If the business succeeds, the economist gets the reward of profit. If it fails, he or she takes the loss.

Nowadays in Ukraine there is a great need in skilled economists to run small business as well as privatized National enterprises and large corporations. Market economy has not been formed in Ukraine yet. So it is important for economists in our country to be educated and well-trained.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is the job of an economist?

2. What is the job of the research economist?

3. Do statistics and mathematics help the research economist?

4. Is economics a social science?

5. Why is economics called the ‘queen of the social sciences’?

 

MY SPECIALITY. MANAGER

 

 

Lead-in:

1. make decision – приймати рішення

2. assignment – призначення

3. choice – вибір

4. trust – довiр’я, віра

5. relationship – зв’язок, відношення

6. sales – продаж, збут

7. law – закон, право, юриспруденція

 

 

I am a student of the economics and management institute.

Management is the process of making decisions and issuing commands. The management function of decision-making is aimed at defining the work and behavior of the organisation that is necessary to realise a given mission. Based on these decisions, managers exercise the command function to initiate action on various work assignments.

Managers are people who, collectively or individually, are responsible for running a business or organization.

What makes a good manager? First of all, the ability to communicate, to get your ideas across and to listen to other people. Secondly, a good sense of organization so that working practices are efficient and problems can be anticipated and avoided. Thirdly, managers work long hours and therefore a great deal of stamina is required to avoid stress. A good manager must also be confident in his/her own ability to deal with difficult situations and show qualities of leadership so that others will want to follow. Managers have to take the initiative and bring fresh creative ideas to old problems. But sound judgement is necessary when a choice of possible courses of action is difficult or risky.

Once decisions are taken, a manager has to make sure they are implemented and obeyed. For this, he or she must demonstrate integrity: this includes a sense of honesty, trust and loyalty to the organization and the personnel under his or her control. Managers should also be accountable to their own boss and be able to explain the reasons for making any decision.

New technology, new ideas, new values and new problems make up the decision agenda of today’s managers.

Management is usually broken down into specific parts, e.g. works management, personnel management, marketing management, etc.

Personnel management is concerned with people at work and with their relationships within an enterprise.

Marketing management includes all aspects of making a product available to the public: product development, pricing, advertising, sales, marketing research, transportation, consumer relations.

A given member of management must undergo a substantial education process in order to become aware of his (her) responsibilities and to become able to perform them adequately. He must receive training on the basis of practically every important area of marketing and business management, finance, production, sales, law plus much, much more.

A good manager is the one who can direct and control people effectively.

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is management?

2. What are the management functions? What are they aimed at?

3. What makes a good manager?

4. What types of management do you know?

5. What is personnel management concerned with?

6. What aspects does marketing management include?

 

 

MARKET

 

Lead-in:

1. demand for goods – попит на товар

2. domestic market – внутрішній ринок

3. stock market – фондова біржа

4. market share – частка на ринку

5. consumption – споживання

6. meet the demand – задовольняти попит

 

An area where there is a demand for certain goods is called a market.

A company which sells goods locally caters for the local market. Goods sold in the same country as they are produced are sold on the home (or domestic) market.

A company which sells goods abroad is an exporter. An exporter sells goods on the international (or overseas) market. An importer buys goods abroad and imports them into his own country.

There are a lot of markets: stock market, money market, labour market, etc.

Some markets, shops and stalls physically bring together the buyer and the seller. Other markets, Stock Exchanges for example, operate chiefly through intermediaries (stockbrokers) who transact business on behalf of clients. Both of them determine prices that ensure that quantity people wish to buy equals the quantity people wish to sell. Price and quantity cannot be considered separately.

All trade depends on supply (having goods or services to sell) and demand (consumers, people who whant to buy). If you increase production but demand remains stable, the price will fall. Therefore many large suppliers do not produce to their maximum capacity. They put a ceiling on their output to keep the price high. A group of companies or countries producing the same sort of goods are called a cartel and when they completely control the market in those goods they are said to have a monopoly. In the USA there are antitrust laws against this sort of practice which kills competition.

The percentage of the total of one kind of goods sold by one company or country is called its market share. However, suppliers usually keep stocks of theirs product so that if consumption suddenly increases, they can meet the demand.

Certain goods always keep a percentage difference between their prices so if the price of one rises or falls, the others do the same. This is called maintaning the differentials. When several products are linked in this way, the price of one of them is usually taken as the reference price for all the others. If goods cannot be sold in the market, they will cease to be produced.

The market reflects any change in the economy. It is sensitive to interest rates, inflation, employment and political events in any country.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What do we call an area where there is a demand for certain goods?

2. What is the home (or domestic) market?

3. Where does an importer (exporter) buy and sell goods?

4. Does all trade depend on supply and demand?

5. What is a monopoly?

6. Does the market reflect any change in the economy?

7. What are the factors the market is sensitive to?

 

COMPANY STRUCTURE

Lead-in:

1. body – орган, установа

2. Executive Board – виконавча рада

3. stock holder – акціонер

4. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – головний виконавчий керівник;

5. power – повноваження

6. research and development – наукове дослідження,

розвиток (розширення роботи)

7. department – відділ

8. market research – дослідження

9. advertising and promotion sector – сектор реклами

та рекламного заохочення

до купівлі товару

10. public relations – публічний зв’язок

11. affiliates – філіали

12. parent company – основна компанія

13. chain of command – ланцюг (порядок) влади

 

 

The highest executive body in a company is the Executive Board (or the Board of Directors). It is accountable to stockholders, and the Board reports to them at the annual stockholders’ meetings. The President is the nominal head of the company, and is elected at the annual stockholders’ meeting. But the President does not supervise the day-to-day running of the company. That is the duty of the Senior Vice-President, or Chief Executive Officer (called a Managing Director in Britain). He or she has the real executive power. The other members of this board are also vice-presidents.

Every Vice-President is responsible for the operation of one or more departments. Executive departments may vary, depending on the company and its activity, but some that are found most frequently are Production, Marketing, Finance, Personnel (Human Resources), and Research and Development (R&D). The Personnel Department is usually under the supervision of the Vice-President for Finance and Administration, while the R&D Department is under the Vice-President for Production. Department heads are called directors or managers. They are supervised by vice-presidents. Departments, in their turn, may be subdivided into sections or sectors. For instance, the Marketing Department may have a Market Research Sector, a Sales Sector, and an Advertising and Promotion Sector.

There are some peculiar positions in a company’s hierarchy. One of them is a Public Relations Manager who either belongs to the Marketing Department or heads a special sector. His or her responsibilities are to create and maintain the best possible image for the company in the eyes of the public.

Many companies, especially multinational corporations, are also divided geographically. There are special departments, managers, directors, or even vice-presidents responsible for operations in certain geographical territories.

Corporations often have subsidiaries (affiliates) that are more or less autonomous. An affiliate is another company owned by a parent company. An affiliate or subsidiary appears when a parent company becomes the owner (proprietor) of more than 50% of its capital.

Thus the structure of a company is quite complicated. This structure and hierarchy is called “ the chain of command” and ensures the company’s efficient functioning.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is the highest executive body in a company?

2. Is the Board of Directors accountable to stockholders?

3. Who is the nominal head of the company? Is he elected?

4. Who supervises the day-to-day running of the company?

5. What are the departments of the company that are found most frequently?

6. What are the responsibilities of a Public Relations Manager?

7. What is an affiliate?

8. When does an affiliate appear?

FORMS OF BUSINESS

 

Lead-in:

1. sole proprietorship – власність одної особі

2. assets – майно, активи

3. loan – позика

4. customer – покупець, замовник, споживач, клієнт

5. liability – відповідальність, забов’язання, заборгованість;

6. partnership – товариство

7. property – власність, майно

8. pool – об’єднувати

9. rіghts and duties – права і обов’язки

10. debt – борг

11. stock – акції, акціонерний капітал

 

 

The simpliest and the cheapest method of starting a business is a sole proprietorship because a sole proprietor invests his or her own capital and personal assets (anything that belongs to the person), or gets a loan from a bank. He or she alone decides what to do to achieve the objective of any business – profit.

The advantages of a sole proprietorship are:

– It is easy to start.

– It is inexpensive to start.

– It is flexible, because the sole proprietor holds all the authority.

– It is best adapted to a small business because it can provide individualized products and services to their customers.

The disadvantages are:

– It is unlimited in legal liability because the sole proprietor is personally responsible for all the debts and everything that is done in his or her business.

– It lacks stability and continuity because the sole proprietor’s disease is a threat to the business and his or her death usually stops it.

– It has a high risk of failure because the competition is usually high.

The second simple form of business organization is a partnership. In a partnership, no less than two and no more than twenty people (according to the British law) pool their property, capital (including intellectual capital), efforts, and managerial talents to do business and gain profits.

The co-owners make a written agreement regarding how to invest capital and share dividends, called an Agreement on Capital and Dividends Share. They also write a Statute of their partnership where all the rights and duties of co-owners are regulated.

The Statute is a legal document and its contents are regulated by law. At least one of the partners has unlimited liability, but quite often every co-owner is liable for all the debts of the partnership.

The advantages of a partnership are:

– It is easy to organize.

– It has potential additional sources for raising investment capital because new partners can be added.

– Every partner may act on behalf of the entire partnership.

The disadvantages are:

– The business suffers if partners have serious and constant disagreements over decisions-making.

– Senior partners have unlimited personal liability.

– In case of bankruptcy, the co-owners who invested more capital lose more than the junior partners who invested less.

A corporation (or company) is the most expensive way to organize a business. Corporations issue stock in shares, which are certificates of owing part of the corporation’s capital.

Shares certify that a definite sum of money has been invested by a shareholder, who may own one or many shares and has the right to definite annual dividends.

Stockholders (shareholders) also have the right to attend the stockholders’ meetings, which are nominally the supreme governing body of a corporation.

Corporations have great advantages that make them the strongest and most powerful form of business ensuring the greatest profits.

But there are also great disadvantages:

– It is difficult and expensive to start.

– It is difficult to control.

– It has much less freedom of operation than a sole proprietorship or partnership does.

– It has to pay corporate tax.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is the simpliest and the cheapest method of starting a business?

2. What are the advantages of a sole proprietorship?

3. What are the disadvantages of a sole proprietorship?

4. What is the second simple form of business organization?

5. What are the advantages (disadvantages) of a partnership?

6. What is the most expensive way to organize a business?

7. What is the strongest and most powerful form of business?

8. What are the advantages (disadvantages) of a corporation?

 

 

Business strategy

Lead-in: 1. overall method – загальна метода, загальний спосіб 2.to achieve an objective – досягати мети 3. flexible – гнучкий 4. long-term – довгостроковий, довготерміновий 5. short-term – короткотерміновий, короткостроковий 6. profit – прибуток, дохід 7. share of the market– частина, частка, пай, акція 8. to reduce – зменшувати, скорочувати 9. margin – 1) грань, край, запас, маргінес 2) точка монетарного прибутку, нижче якої продукція є неприбуткова 10. to increase profits –збільшувати прибуток 11. to manufacture – виробляти 12. loss – втрата, збиток 14. secure– безпечний, міцний, гарантований 15. advantages and disadvantages – переваги і недоліки

 

Every company or firm develops its strategy, i.e., its overall method of achieving its objectives. The strategy must be very flexible, because only a flexible strategy permits taking into account market conditions, which are constantly changing.

Strategy depends on long-term and short-term objectives and prospects. The long-term objective is always profits. But a company may be ready to cut its profits for some time to have a greater share of the market to sell its products. Greater market share means greater profits in the future. So, a company may put gaining market share as its short-term objective. To achieve this, the company has to reduce its prices. But then, the margins will be lower. Margins are the differences between what it costs to manufacture a product and the price at which it is sold. Lowering the margins means cutting the profits.

In this case, in order to increase profits over the long term, the company needs to increase production. Gaining market share allows it to increase production, and that increase cuts of the unit cost (i.e., the cost to manufacture one unit of what the company produces).

On the other hand, increasing production may cut profits as well, because the increased production requires new investments into machinery and technology.

The strategy, then, has to be oriented in two directions – the market and the manufacturing process. If we focus on the market, then the strategy is to gain market share. If we focus on manufacture as a source of profitability, then the quality of products should be improved. In that case, prices may be raised as well, in their turn raising the profits.

But this strategy does not work well if the market is competitive. Price increases, whatever the quality, may result in a drop in sales. A firm that does not increase prices, or the one that even reduces them, adapts to the market more easily.

To reduce costs without increasing (or even reducing) prices, companies often have to sub-contract some of their production. That means job losses in the company itself, though the remaining jobs become more stable and secure.

It may be said that developing a sound and flexible strategy is very difficult, because every strategy has its advantages and disadvantages. Many factors have to be taken into account.

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is a business strategy?

2. What are the objectives that every strategy depends on?

3. Name two directions a Nationalgy can be oriented in.

4. Why do companies have sometimes to sub-contract their production?

5. What factors, in your opinion, have to be taken into account in order to develop a sound strategy?

 

 

11. FRANCHISING

 

Lead-in:

1. franchising – привілей, ексклюзівні права і привілеї

на переведення торгівлі чи бізнесу

2. agreement – згода, договір, угода

3. accounting – бухгалтерія, облік, розрахунок

4. bookkeeping – бухгалтерія

5. penalty – покарання, кара, штраф

6. trademark – фабрична марка, торгівельна марка

7. marketing strategy – стратегія торгівлі (маркетингу)

8. operating manual – підручник, посібник

9. quality control – контроль якості

10. renewal – відновлення

 

One of the fastest-growing and most important segments of business is franchising.

There are many different franchise agreements. Franchising is a marketing system based on a legal arrangement that permits one party – the franchisee – to conduct business as an individual owner while abiding by the terms and conditions set by the second party – the franchiser. The franchise is the contract granting the right to do business and specifying the terms and conditions under which the business will be conducted.

The franchisee is usually an independent local business person who agrees with the franchise owner to operate the business. The franchiser is the company that owns the franchise’s name and distinctive elements (such as signs, symbols and patents) and that provides operating systems, such as accounting, advertising, bookkeeping, marketing and other services. While the franchisee is given the right to produce and market the franchiser’s designated goods or services, that production and marketing must be done according to the terms of the licensing agreement. The contract specifies what the franchisee can and cannot do and prescribes certain penalties for non-compliance.

There are two types of franchising systems: product and trademark franchising and business format franchising.

Product franchising is an independent sales relationship between the franchiser and the franchisee in which the latter is given the right to use some of the franchiser’s identity.

Business format franchising is characterized by an on going business relationship between franchiser and franchisee that includes not only the product service and trademark (or trade name) but also the other components of the operating system: marketing strategy and plan, operating manuals and standards, training programs for operating the system, quality control, and communication between franchiser and franchisee.

Franchisees get training from the company that helps them to manage their business and advertising. This continuous support is one of great advantages of franchising. Not less important is using the brand name of a company that is known and advertised nationally, or even worldwide. It is easier for a franchisee to raise money from banks than it is for a sole proprietor because a franchisee has a large company’s support.

But there are disadvantages as well:

– A franchisee has less independence than other sole proprietors;

– He or she has to pay part of his or her profits to the company (royalty payments).

– A franchisee cannot sell his or her business if he or she does not have a franchiser’s agreement of doing so;

– Renewal of the franchise is not automatic, so a franchisee can lose his or her franchise.

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is franchising (the franchise)?

2. What is the franchisee?

3. What is the franchiser?

4. How many types of franchising systems do you know?

5. Is it easier for a franchisee to raise money from banks than it is for a sole proprietor? Why?

6. What are advantages and disadvantages of franchising?

 

 

GOODS MANAGER

 

Lead-in:

1. spice – приправа

2. starch – крохмаль

3.confectionery – кондитерські вироби

4. crockery – фарфор

5. knitwear – трикотажні вироби

6. haberdashery – галантерея

7. stationery – канцелярські товари

8. hosiery – панчішні вироби

9. durability – довговічність

10. demand for the goods – попит на товари

 

I am a student of the faculty of Marketing, Trade and Customs Activity at Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after M.Tugan-Baranovsky. There are 3 departments here: the department of Marketing, Goods Management and Customs Activity.

My speciality is Goods Manager. It seems to me that our speciality is the most interesting and necessary for people engaged in trade. Our faculty prepares 2 types of goods managers: Goods Managers of Food products and Non-Food Stuffs. Food is the source of energy for the maintenance of life. That's why there are many kinds of foodstuffs in the world. We get food from animals and birds, plants and fish. Goods Managers of food products study 9 different groups of food products: 1) milk products, 2) meat products, 3) fish products, 4) grain products, 5) vegetables and fruit, 6) oils and fats, 7) drinks, beverages and spice, 8) starch and sugar containing substances and confectionery, 9) egg products.

The work of Goods Managers of food products is very important and many-sided. We study useful properties of goods; determine the most rational ways of food-products usage. Goods managers must know the regime of food-products storage for preserving their quality. The ability to know some new wants and demands of customers, to recognise new trends and developments is very important. So Goods Managers of Food Products study physical, chemical and biological properties of goods and change of these properties while moving from producers to customers.

Goods Manager of Non-Food Stuffs also study different groups of products: plastic goods, consumer service chemicals, crockery and glassware, ceramics, building materials, furniture, electrical appliances, textile goods, ready-made garments, knitted garments, footwear, fur, haberdashery, stationery, hosiery, perfumery and cosmetic, gold and silverware and so on.

Clothing traditionally may be divided into ready-made clothes, hosiery, knitwear, hats, linen. According to the sex and age of a person clothing may be divided into: men's wear, women's wear and children's wear. But nowadays women's wear is gradually becoming identical in many cases with men's wear. The names of many articles of clothes are the same in men's and women's wear; for example, heavy-weight coats, lightweight coats, raincoats, anoraks, cloaks, cardigans, pullovers, sweaters, shirts, etc. The name "trousers" may include slacks, pants, jeans, cords.

The dressing of children moves now towards the miniaturization of adult fashion, including cords, velour skirts, jeans, dresses and suits.

Most people try to have in their wardrobes clothes in natural colours and made of natural materials, the prices on such clothes are rather high, but it would be probably explained by the fact that consumers are looking for durability, value and quality and are prepared to make a purchase which will cost them more but which is expected to last longer.

To be a qualified goods manager means to know if there is any demand for the goods, what the market potential is, to know local conditions and preferences, local trading customs and habits, what seasonal factors should be taken into account and the like.

In order to be specialists our students study foreign languages, mathematics, chemistry, psychology. Besides, great attention is paid to the special subjects.

I like my future speciality and I think that we, young specialists, must do all we can to meet the requirements of Ukraine in full.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is the name of your faculty?

2. What are the names of your faculty’s departments?

3. What is the name of your speciality?

4. What is the work of Goods Manager connected with?

5. What types of Goods Managers do you know?

6. What kinds of foodstuffs are there in the world?

7. What groups of non-food goods do you know?

8. What subjects do you study?