Grammar: the Past Perfect Tense

 

I/YOU/WE/HE/SHE/IT/THEY HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE

 

We use Past Perfect if we want to talk about the things that happened before another action happened.

He showed me the car he had bought in Kiev.

I didn’t know who she was. I had never seen her before.

 

Exercises

Read the situations and write sentences from the words in brackets.

1 You went to Jill's house but she wasn't there, (she / go / out)... She had gone out.... You went back to your home town after many years. It wasn't the same as before.

(it / change / a lot).......................................................

2 I invited Rachel to the party but she couldn't come.

she / arrange / to do something else)..........................................................

3 You went to the cinema last night. You arrived at the cinema late.

(the film / already / begin)..................................................................

4 I was very pleased to see Tim again after such a long time.

(I / not/see /him for five years)..................................................................

5 I offered Sue something to eat but she wasn't hungry.

(she /just/have / breakfast).......................................................

Read the situations and write sentences ending with before. Use the verb given in brackets.

The man sitting next to me on the plane was very nervous. It was his first flight, (fly)... He had never flown, before or He hadn't flown before,.

1 A woman walked into the room. She was a complete stranger to me.

I (see)............................. '.....................................................before.

2 Simon played tennis yesterday. He wasn't very good at it because it was his first game.

He (play)..........................................................................................

3 Last year we went to Denmark. It was our first time there.

We (be).....................................................................................

Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done etc.) or past simple (I did etc.).

1 "Was Tom at the party when you arrived?' 'No, he...had gone... (go) home.'

2 I felt very tired when I got home, so I..............................(go) straight to bed.

3 The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody......................... (go) to bed.

4 Sorry I'm late. The car...................................................(break) down on my way here.

5 We were driving along the road when we................................ (see) a car which (break) down, so we........................................ (stop) to see if we could help.

Unit 13

Business operations

Business operations are those ongoing recurring activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. They are contrasted with project management, and consist of business processes.

The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets owned by business Assets can be either physical or intangible. An example of value derived from a physical asset like a building is rent. An example of value derived from an intangible asset like an idea is a royalty. The effort involved in "harvesting" this value is what constitutes business operations.

Business operations encompasses three fundamental management imperatives that collectively aim to maximize value harvested from business assets (this has often been referred to as "sweating the assets"):

1. Generate recurring income.

2. Increase the value of the business assets.

3. Secure the income and value of the business.

All three imperatives are mutually dependent. The following basic tenets illustrate this interdependency:

· The more recurring income an asset generates, the more valuable it becomes. For example, the products that sell at the highest volumes and prices are usually considered to be the most valuable products in a business's product portfolio.

· The more valuable a product becomes the more recurring income it generates. For example, a luxury car can be leased out at a higher rate than a normal car.

· The intrinsic value and income-generating potential of an asset cannot be realized without a way to secure it. For example, petroleum deposits are worthless unless processes and equipment are developed and employed to extract, refine, and distribute it profitably.

The business model of a business describes the means by which the three management imperatives are achieved. In this sense, business operations is the execution of the business model.

Generating recurring income

This is the most straightforward and well-understood management imperative of business operations. The primary goal of this imperative is to implement a sustained delivery of goods and services to the business's customers at a cost that is less than the funds acquired in exchange for said goods and services—in short, making a profit.

The funds directly acquired by the business in exchange for the goods and services it delivers is the business's revenue.

The cost of developing, producing, and delivering these goods and services is the business's expenses.

A business whose revenues are greater than its expenses makes a profit. Such a business is profitable.