Media giant News Corp is mustering its forces to make sure the Murdoch family stays in control and to ward off a possible takeover bid.

It is planning a "poison pill" defence, allowing shareholders to increase their stakes if anyone buys more than 15% of the company.

The Murdoch family owns 29.5% of the firm.

The plan comes days after US cable group Liberty Media moved to raise its holding from 9% to 17%.

Liberty boss John Malone was a long-time ally of Mr Murdoch.

The move could be a prelude to a full-scale bid, or alternatively to merge the two empires.

News Corp said it had not been told in advance about Mr Malone's move. "It's too early to tell what Liberty's intentions are, but we're not necessarily treating them as friendly," a spokesman said.

Protection

If implemented, the poison pill plan gives existing shareholders the right to double their holdings at half the current share price if anyone takes control of 15% of the company's shares.

The rule does not apply to Mr Malone just yet.

Liberty's existing 9.1% stake and its option on another 8% currently held by investment bank Merrill Lynch are both declared, exempting them from the plan.

But if Liberty were to buy more than a further 1% of News Corp's voting shares, all other shareholders would immediately be allowed to expand their stake.

The effect would be massively to dilute Liberty's - or another potential bidder's - holding.

News Corp has been based in Australia since its inception, but is shortly to move its headquarters and its incorporation to the US from Australia.

 

VOCABULARY:

full-scale bid – крупномасштабная попытка поглощения (bid – см. примечания к тексту 4)

voting shares - голосующие акции (акции, дающие право голоса на собрании акционеров; обычно право голоса дают только обыкновенные акции)

TRANSLATION NOTES:

But if Liberty were to buy more than… voting shares … - Если бы фирма Либерти захотела приобрести больше… «голосующих» акций…

 

Форма глагола to be с инфинитивом в условных предложениях означает намерение, цель.

Например: If we are to keep the prices down… Если мы намерены сдерживать рост цен… (См. часть Ш, раздел 3, §3, п.3.4)

 

VOCABULARY CHECK

1) Процесс слияний и приобретений очень тесно связан с динамикой рынка капитала.

2) Поглощение компании, которое происходит путем скупки ее акций на рынке против воли руководства, является враждебным.

3) Пять государственных банков были объединены в единый конгломерат.

4) Используя термин «слияние» руководство компании пытается представить процесс поглощения в более выгодном свете.

5) Крупнейшая мировая сталелитейная компания Mittal Steel Co. сообщила, что делает предложение о покупке своего ближайшего конкурента Arcelor SA по цене 28,21 евро за акцию.

6) Руководитель компании Arcelor заявил, что Arcelor - стопроцентная жертва недружественного предложения о поглощении. Руководство же Mittal заявляет, что это дружественное предложение.

7) Акции Centrica plc – крупнейшей газораспределительной компании в Великобритании – на торгах в среду выросли на слухах о возможном поглощении со стороны европейских конкурентов.

8) Разводнение акционерного капитала - выпуск новых акций не для продажи по рыночному курсу, а для распределения или продажи по цене, которая значительно ниже рыночного курса, персоналу в качестве поощрения.

9) "Золотой парашют" может быть использован как средство борьбы с нежелательным поглощением.

10) Часто компания - объект поглощения - борется с попытками рейдеров "методом отпугивания акул" (techniques). Если приобретаемая компания не предпринимает никаких действий, она называется "спящая красавица" (sleeping beauty).

11) Ядовитая пилюля - стратегия объекта поглощения, направленная на выставление своих акций в непривлекательном свете. Например, выпуск новых серий привилегированных акций, что вызывает разводнение акционерного капитала и может предотвратить попытку поглощения, увеличив расходы поглотителя.

 

 

CASE STUDY:

Why M&As Can Fail

It's no secret that plenty of mergers don't work. Those who advocate mergers will argue that the merger will cut costs or boost revenues by more than enough to justify the price premium. It can sound so simple: just combine computer systems, merge a few departments, use sheer size to force down the price of supplies, and the merged giant should be more profitable than its parts. In theory, 1+1 = 3 sounds great, but in practice, things can go awry.

Historical trends show that roughly two thirds of big mergers will disappoint on their own terms, which means they will lose value on the stock market. Motivations behind mergers can be flawed and efficiencies from economies of scale may prove elusive. And the problems associated with trying to make merged companies work are all too concrete.

Mergers are often attempts to imitate: somebody else has done a big merger, which prompts top executives to follow suit.

A merger may often have more to do with glory-seeking than business strategy. The executive ego, which is boosted by buying the competition, is a major force in M&A, especially when combined with the influences from the bankers, lawyers and other assorted advisers who can earn big fees from clients engaged in mergers. Most CEOs get to where they are because they want to be the biggest and the best, and many top executives get a big bonus for merger deals, no matter what happens to the share price later.

On the other side of the coin, mergers can be driven by generalized fear. Globalisation, or the arrival of new technological developments, or a fast-changing economic landscape that makes the outlook uncertain are all factors that can create a strong incentive for defensive mergers. Sometimes the management team feels they have no choice and must acquire a rival before being acquired. The idea is that only big players will survive a more competitive world.

The Obstacles of Making it Work

Coping with a merger can make top managers spread their time too thinly, neglecting their core business, spelling doom. Too often, potential difficulties seem trivial to managers caught up in the thrill of the big deal.

The chances for success are further hampered if the corporate cultures of the companies are very different. When a company is acquired, the decision is typically based on product or market synergies, but cultural differences are often ignored. It's a mistake to assume that people issues are easily overcome. For example, employees at a target company might be accustomed to easy access to top management, flexible work schedules or even a relaxed dress code. These aspects of a working environment may not seem significant, but if new management removes them, the result can be resentment and shrinking productivity.

More insight into the failure of mergers is found in the highly acclaimed study from the global consultancy McKinsey. The study concludes that companies often focus too intently on cutting costs following mergers, while revenues and, ultimately, profits suffer. Merging companies can focus on integration and cost-cutting so much that they neglect day-to-day business, thereby prompting nervous customers to flee. This loss of revenue momentum is one reason so many mergers fail to create value for shareholders.

But remember, not all mergers fail. Size and global reach can be advantageous, and strong managers can often squeeze greater efficiency out of badly run rivals. But the promises made by dealmakers demand the careful scrutiny of investors. The success of mergers depends on how realistic the dealmakers are and how well they can integrate two companies together while maintaining day-to-day operations.

 

Suggest, with reason, the motivation of your company for a merger.

Why might a merging strategy carry more risks than an organic growth of a

Company?

Evaluate the benefits of a merger for top managers.

Analyse why some mergers do not work.

Evaluate the likely reaction of the employees of a target company to a potential

Merger.

Make a list of what you consider to be the necessary pillars of a successful

Merger.

7. Explain the combination 1+1=3

 

VOCABULARY REVISION – UNIT 1

Компания, предприятие, фирма; бизнес, дело, предпринимательство; свободное предпринимательство; малый бизнес; международная компания; ТНК; отрасль промышленности; распродавать (имущество, компанию); коммунальные предприятия; дочерняя компания; акционер; контрольный пакет акций; совместное предприятие; обрабатывающая промышленность; государственный сектор; второстепенное участие в капитале (меньшая доля); государственный; основная деятельность; «ключевой» бизнес; концентрироваться на определенных видах деятельности; неосновные (второстепенные) активы; продажа активов компании, не участвующих в основной деятельности; отделять, отторгать; рационализация; рисковый капитал; выкуп контрольного пакета акций корпорации ее управляющими и служащими; поглощение; объект поглощения; слияние; предложение о поглощении; «белый рыцарь».

 

 

Part 1

Unit 2

PRODUCTION

AND SALE

 

UNIT 2

PRODUCTION AND SALE

SECTION 1 PRODUCING THE GOODS

LEAD-IN

There are two main ways in which a firm can grow. Internal growthis achieved by the firm expandingon its own. The firm invests and increases its production and sales.

Productionor manufacturing is the process of making goods in large quantities. Making large numbers of basically identical goods is mass production. Manufacturingis also used when talking about the sector of the economy that makes things.

Products are made, manufactured, or produced in plants. A plant may be referred to as a factory or works. Makers, manufacturers, and producers are organizations that make products.

Manufacturers produce products from raw materials or component parts, which they then sell at a profit. Companies providing raw materialsand componentsorpartsto a manufacturer are its suppliers. In modern manufacturing, suppliers are referred to as partners.

Parts are sometimes referred to familiarly as widgets, especially when their purpose is not clear, or when manufacturing is being discussed in a general way and the exact name of the part is not important.

Components waiting to be assembled are stocks, or inventories. Companies may also have stocks or inventories of work-in-progress and finished products, of course. Stocks are often kept in warehouses before delivery.

There is a tendency for manufacturers to reduce stocks, and hence the need to finance, store and handle them, by getting suppliers to make and deliver components just-in-time: just before they are actually needed. This shortens lead time, the time it takes to make and deliver goods.

JIT delivery is an example of lean manufacturing or lean production techniques.

 

Output is the number or type of things that a plant, company, industry or country produces.

Productivity is a measure of how much is produced in relation to the number of employees. High output per employee = high productivity.

The maximum amount that a particular plant, company or industry can produce is its capacity. If it is producing this amount, it is working at full capacity. If it is producing more than what is needed, there is overproduction,excess capacity, surplus capacity or overcapacity

Spare capacity, on the other hand, is often a good thing, implying that production can easily be increased if necessary.

If far too many things are produced, there is a glut of these things. If not enough goods are being produced, there is a shortage.

 

A firm can also grow by taking over or merging with other firms. This is known as growth by amalgamation.

When two companies do come together, integration is said to take place. There are three major types of integration or merger:

Horizontal integration occurs when two firms producing similar goods and services amalgamate.

Vertical integration occurs when a company amalgamates either with a company it sells products to, or with a company it buys products from. It is a situation in which a single company owns several businesses that, in combination, control all the stages in producing and selling a product. For example, a company that owns a book publisher, a film producer, and a television company can use the same basic product in all these businesses.

Conglomerate mergers occur when a firm amalgamates with another company that has little or nothing to do with its existing activities.

 

When a product is re-designed or a production process is organized more efficiently, it is re-engineered.

 

For decades companies expanded their conglomerates by buying other companies. Initially these companies were related businesses, often suppliers. Soon the conglomerates began buying companies with no relation. Profit motives and the desire to be the biggest became sufficient motivation for acquisition. Ultimately, the conglomerates began to collapse under the weight of the acquired companies. Profits started falling and companies began to retract to their "core" businesses.

Next they discovered that they could shed even core functions by hiring them out to companies that could do them more efficiently and, thus, less expensively. A formal agreement to pay someone to do some of the work that you have agreed to dois subcontracting.

Payroll processing was subcontracted. Shipping was farmed out. So was manufacturing. Companies were hired to do collections, customer call centers, and employee benefits. Collectively, this was called outsourcing.

Outsourcing made sense. Specialized companies provided their services to many client companies at lower prices than the client companies could do the work in-house. Both companies, the service provider and the client, profited from the arrangement. Unfortunately, like the building of conglomerates before it, outsourcing got carried to extremes. Companies began outsourcing work to the lowest bidder and lost sight of the effect it had on the company except for finances. Outsourcing this work to "foreign" or "offshore" companies, solely to take advantage of lower labor rates in those countries, became known as offshoring.

Offshoring can be defined as relocation of business processes to another country, especially a country overseas. This includes any business process such as production, manufacturing, or services.

 

VOCABULARY

manufacturing	- процесс производства; обрабатывающая промышленность; производство готовых изделий
mass production	-массовое производство; крупномасштабное (широкомасштабное) производство
product	- продукт, продукция, изделие, товар
make, manufacture, produce	- изготавливать, производить, делать, обрабатывать
plant, factory, works	- завод, фабрика, предприятие, производство
maker, manufacturer, producer	- фирма-производитель, изготовитель, поставщик
raw materials	- сырье, необработанные материалы
components, parts, widgets	- комплектующие части, компоненты, детали, узлы,
supplier, partner	- поставщик, продавец, контрагент, компаньон
stocks (BrE),inventories(AmE)	- товарно-материальные запасы
work-in-progress (BrE) work-in-process (AmE)	- незавершенное производство
warehouse	- склад, товарный склад; большой оптовый магазин
just-in-time delivery JIT delivery	- доставка "точно в срок" (поставка материалов и комплектующих на промышленное предприятие небольшими партиями с достаточно частой периодичностью, в соответствии с текущими потребностями производства, что минимизирует издержки на хранение)
lead time	- время выполнения: промежуток времени, необходимый для выполнения какой-л. операции (напр., время между подтверждением потребности в заказе и поступлением товаров, время разработки, подготовки заказа, транспортировки, приема, инспекции)
lean manufacturing lean production	- всесторонне рационализированное производство; максимально экономичное производство
output	- продукция, выпуск, выработка; объем производства; производительность, мощность, отдача
increase, step up output	- увеличивать выпуск продукции
curtail, cut back, reduce output	- сокращать выпуск продукции
manufacturing output	- продукция обрабатывающей промышленности
gross output	- валовой продукт
industrial output	- объем промышленного производства
annual output	- годовой объем производства, выпуск продукции за год
per head [per capita] output	- объем производства на душу населения
national output	- общий объем продукции, произведенной в данной стране, совокупный продукт, ВВП
productivity	- производительность (труда); выработка продукции в расчете на одного работника; продуктивность
capacity	- номинальная мощность, максимальная производительность (о технике); производственные мощности (средства производства, характеризующие максимальные производственные возможности предприятия, страны
capacity utilization	- уровень использования производственных мощностей
at full capacity	- на полную мощность
excess capacity overcapacity surplus capacity	- избыточные производственные мощности (способность производить больше, чем того требует спрос)
overproduction	- перепроизводство, затоваривание
spare capacity	-запасные, резервные, дополнительные производственные ресурсы; незагруженные производственные мощности
glut	- перепроизводство, насыщение, избыток (товаров на рынке)
shortage	-нехватка, недостаток, дефицит; отрицательный уровень запасов; некомплектность; недостаточность предложения
amalgamation	- слияние, объединение; смешение
horizontal integration	- горизонтальная интеграция: слияние компаний, занимающихся одной и той же деятельностью
vertical integration	- вертикальная интеграция: слияние компаний, специализирующихся на разных фазах производства, реализации и потребления одного продукта
conglomerate merger	- конгломеративное слияние: слияние двух или более компаний, относящихся к не связанным между собой отраслям
re-engineering business process reengineering, BPR	- перестройка, реорганизация, реинжиниринг, радикальное перепроектирование бизнес-процессов (системы ведения бизнеса): осуществляется путем удаления малоэффективных звеньев бизнес-процесса и внедрения современных технологий управления с целью достижения существенного (в десятки и сотни раз) улучшения ключевых показателей результативности компании
subcontracting	- заключение контрактов с субподрядчиками; субконтрактинг; (система наиболее характерна для сферы производства); необходимо отметить, что термины outsourcing и subcontracting не всегда выступают синонимами - истинный аутсорсинг предполагает долгосрочное сотрудничество, подряд же может быть единоразовым
subcontract farm out	- заключать субподрядный договор
payroll processing	- обработка данных по платежным ведомостям
call center	- центр телефонного обслуживания, центр обработки звонков (вызовов)
outsourcing	-аутсорсинг, привлечение внешних ресурсов: ситуация, когда организация-заказчик привлекает внешние фирмы для выполнения каких-л. работ, которые являются частью ее основной деятельности; различают три вида аутсорсинга: функциональный (передача функций управления), операционный (передача функций производства) и ресурсный (отказ от собственных ресурсов и приобретение их на стороне); здесь же, в свою очередь, выделяются две его составные части — аутсорсинг внутри страны и передача выполнения работ за рубеж. В последнем случае речь идет об офшоринге.
offshoring	- офшоринг, “офшорный аутсорсинг”: передача тех или иных видов деятельности или производства на основе подряда иностранному поставщику
in-house	- внутренний, собственный; внутрифирменный; собственной разработки, собственного производства
in-house work in-house production	-внутренняя работа, внутреннее производство: производство, оказание услуг или выполнение работ, которые производятся самой фирмой в своих помещениях с использованием своей техники и персонала, не прибегая к субподряду

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1) How is a company’s internal growth achieved?

2) What is mass production?

3) What techniques is JIT delivery an example of?

4) What can the output refer to?

5) What are the major types of integration?

6) What is a conglomerate merger?

7) What kind of activity is called re-engineering?

8) What is called outsourcing? offshoring?

 

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Last year British manufacturing output fell by 14%.

 

Capacity (the amount a firm can make) depends upon the amount of buildings, machinery and labour it has available. When the firm is making full use of all its resources, it is said to be working at full capacity or 100% capacity utilisation.

The Financial Times reported that, thanks to the deluge of investment, even a hot market like China is now stuck with overcapacity, from cars to chemicals to electronics. A couple of years back, every multinational rushed to build plants there and catch the wave of China's rising consumption. Now factories, not consumers, are overabundant.

With spare production capacity reduced to a trickle, prices have been highly sensitive to any developments which could disrupt output.

A shortage of raw materials and components is forcing many industries to close down.

Recently, US-based companies have accelerated the practice of offshoring and have extended its reach to include so called white-collar jobs. Large companies have transferred their call centers to India, for example, where labor rates can be as low as 50-80% lower than US rates.

Companies have been outsourcing work for many years. This trend has been carried to an extreme in the case of offshoring - sending work and jobs to other countries where labor is cheaper.

Merging with a company at a different stage in the production process, for instance, a car maker merging with a car retailer or a parts supplier is vertical integration.

Lean production is aimed at the elimination of waste in every area of production including customer relations, product design, supplier networks and factory management. Its goal is to incorporate less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop products, and less space to become highly responsive to customer demand while producing top quality products in the most efficient and economical manner possible.

Business Process Reengineering reduces cost and cycle times by eliminating unproductive activities and the employees who perform them.

TEXTS TO TRANSLATE:

15. Japan's Production Increases But Analysts Expect Slowdown Soon

TOKYO Japanese industrial produc­tion in August was unexpectedly strong, but analysts said output is likely to cool in coming months.

The Ministry of International Trade and IndustryWednesday said August in­dustrial output rose 4.6% compared with July, after adjustment for seasonal factors. That exceeded economists average forecast for a 3.6% rise and marked the sharpest pace of increase since January 1997, the ministry said.

MITI itself had projected a month ago that industrial output would rise 4.7% in August from July. Compared with year earlier levels, overall output rose 5.5%, according to the ministry. "Industrial pro­duction is beginning to show signs of recovery," the ministry said.

For the first time in more than three years, production rose across all 14 sectors surveyed, data from the ministry showed. The electrical machinery, semiconductor and automobile sectors registered especially robust output growth.

And in an optimistic development for the overall economy, the data suggested that long-term inventory adjustment by Japanese companies is coming to an end. Inventories inched 0.2% higher in August from July on a seasonally adjusted basis, after falling 1.3% in July and slipping 0.3% in June. The need by Japanese companies to reduce their inventories in the face of stagnant consumption had been one of the factors that weighed on production growth, depressing overall economic activity as well, economists said.

VOCABULARY:

adjustment for seasonal factors - корректировка (поправка) c учетом сезонных колебаний

robust output growth- высокие темпы роста объема производства

inventory adjustment - доведение производственных запасов до нормы; корректировка запасов

weigh on – зд. негативно отразиться

 

 

16. Manufacturing And the Price of Outsourcing

Farming out chunks of production to subcontractors, known to business buffs as outsourcing, has proved one of the more enduring management fads of the past decade. By handing over more and more of their production to outside specialists, the theory goes, firms can cut costs, rein in capital spending and focus on what they are good at. Outsourcing plainly works: after all, Japanese companies swear by it.

Unsurprisingly, western companies have been trying to catch up. But like so many management techniques that seem to work well in Japan, production appears to have lost something in translation. According to one study of over 100 manufacturing firms in America. Japan and Europe, many western companies find that something unexpected happens when they start using extensive subcontracting. Far from falling, their costs actually increase.

A number of the firms surveyed found that, after several years' production they started to lose their technological edge over their competitors; others believed they were 'losing control' of their process technology; others that their product quality was faltering.

What were they doing wrong? Part of the answer is that most western firms start using subcontractors simply because they want to cut overheads - shorthand in most cases for cutting jobs. Exactly which bits of the manufacturing processes are subcontracted out is decided by which will save the most on overheads, not by which makes the most long-term sense. That means a piecemeal approach to outsourcing which results in patches of manufacturing overcapacity scattered at random throughout a firm's operations. Trying to consolidate and reorganise the mish-mash of operations that remain in-house is where companies usually trip up.

Approached this way, outsourcing has other snags. It often results in the use of large numbers of subcontractors, as each part of the company delegates work to favoured subcontractors. That is one reason why Europe's mass market car makers have failed to cut costs despite extensive outsourcing. Coordinating a gaggle of subcontractors is often more time-consuming, and costly, than managing in-house manufacture of the parts in question.

Worse, the piecemeal, random nature of much subcontracting means that a company can lose its grip, often without realising it, on some of its core manufacturing processes. By the time the firm realises what is going on, it may be too late to make up lost ground...

VOCABULARY:

fad – нововведение, новомодный управленческий метод, используемый лишь в течение короткого периода времени.

management fads – новые идеи и теории в области менеджмента

decade - десятилетие

to rein in capital spending – сократить объем инвестиций

 

cut overheads – сократить накладные расходы

snag – препятствие, проблема

 

TRANSLATION NOTES:

farming out – субподряд, привлечение внешних ресурсов (аутсорсинг)

В этом значении является примером «авторских слов» - неологизмов, которые образуются разными способами. В данном случае словосочетанию farming out (наемные работы в сельском хозяйстве) придано новое, более широкое значение, выходящее за рамки одной отрасли. (См. часть Ш, раздел 2, § 1, п.1.3)

 

production appears to have lost something in translation… – по-видимому, использование этого метода управления оказалось не столь эффективным в других странах…

В предложениях, содержащих конструкции «именительный падеж с инфинитивом» глагол to appear переводится как по-видимому, похоже. (См. часть Ш, раздел 3, § 4, п.4.2)

 

Far from falling, their costs actually increase. – Издержки компаний не только не сократились, но фактически возросли.

Герундий, который следует после выражения far from переводится как «не только не…, но»; «вместо того, чтобы (+инфинитив)…»; «отнюдь не (+деепричастие)» (См. часть Ш, раздел 3, § 5, п.5.2)

 

17.JPMorgan Steps up Indian Offshoring

Bank plans recruitment of 4,500 graduates over two years. New staff to perform high-value tasks

JPMorgan Chase plans to hire 4,500 graduates in India over the next two years with the aim of moving 30 per cent of back office and support staff at its investment bank offshore by the end of 2007.

The plan is the most ambitious move by an international investment bank to take advantage of the low cost of highly educated staff in India.

It underlines the shift in the use of such offshore facilities from traditional areas such as information technology support and call centres to core operational functions and other high-value tasks.

The bulk of the bank's process­ing of foreign exchange trades will be carried out at its centres in Mumbai and Bangalore.

It is also moving over much of the processing of credit deriva­tives contracts, an area where US and UK regulators have expressed concern about back­logs across the industry. Other investment banks are also invest­ing heavily in India, including UBS, which plans to open its first offshoring centre in Hyderabad early next year with an initial plan for 500 jobs.

Stefan Spohr, of consultants AT Kearney, estimates that US and UK-based investment banks now have about 6,000 staff in India, of which half are directly employed, representing less than 5 per cent of total headcount.

But he predicts this could rise to as much as 20 per cent in the next few years. "This is not a trend that will go away. Global resourcing is becoming part of the way of doing business," he said. Industry analysts say sala­ries in India are 70-80 per cent lower and total costs about 40 per cent below US levels.

But Veronique Weill, head of operations at JPMorgan's invest­ment hank, said it was not just about cost savings.

"The quality of the people we hire is extraordinary and their level of loyalty to the company unbeatable," she said.

The alleged "exporting" of jobs by American companies to lower-cost countries became a conten­tious political issue in the run-up to last year's presidential elec­tion. But the controversy has cooled as employment growth in the US has picked up.

VOCABULARY:

back office - отдел обработки документации, бэк-офис (отдел банка или брокерской фирмы, занимающийся ведением счетов, оформлением различных операций, расчетами, а не совершением сделок или непосредственными контактами с клиентами)

support staff - вспомогательный персонал

foreign exchange trades – зд. операции с иностранной валютой

credit derivative - кредитный дериватив (производный финансовый инструмент, предназначенный для защиты от кредитного риска по одному или нескольким кредитным контрактам)

regulators – представители органов государственного регулирования; инспекторы

headcount - общее количество; численность персонала предприятия

resourcing – поиск, подбор ресурсов (напр. материальных, людских) для какой-л. деятельности)

employee resourcing process — процесс подбора персонала

 

VOCABULARY CHECK

1) Вертикальная интеграция охватывает поставщиков материалов, изготовителей узлов и деталей, сборщиков конечного изделия, продавцов и потребителей конечного продукта (end product).

2) До последнего времени компании развитых стран рассматривали офшоринг — передачу тех или иных видов деятельности в страны с недорогой рабочей силой — только как способ избавиться от простых, но трудоемких (labour-intensive) операций. Однако сегодня все больше компаний из развивающихся стран могут предложить не только низкие издержки, но и высочайшее качество услуг.

3) Производители автомобилей зависят от поставщиков комплектующих, которые изготавливают лишь один вид узла. Поставщики комплектующих, в свою очередь, зависят от своих партнеров, снабжающих их отдельными деталями. Благодаря аутсорсингу, на каждом производственном этапе удается разбить сложное задание на более простые составляющие.

4) Объем промышленного производства в США вырос в мае на 0,4%, что оказалось выше, чем ожидалось.

5) В Китае избыточные мощности по производству алюминия равны 2,6 млн.тонн.

6) Министр нефти Саудовской Аравии Али аль-Наими (Ali al-Naimi) заявил: "Королевство готово к тому, чтобы удовлетворить все требования международных нефтяных компаний, если им понадобятся дополнительные объемы поставок.” Министр указал на то, что резервные мощности Саудовской Аравии составляют более 1,3 млн. баррелей в день.

7) Более половины всей продукции обрабатывающей промышленности, потребляемой в США, производится за границей, особенно трудоемкая продукция массового производства.

 

SECTION 2COSTS AND EXPENSES, ECONOMIES OF SCALE

LEAD-IN

The money that a business spends in order to produce goods or services is its costs. Costs are also referred to as expenses or expenditure. Planned expenditure is shown, budgeted, or budgeted for in a budget.

Fixed costs do not change when production goes up or down. Thus regardless of the number of units produced and sold, the fixed costs remain the same. Examples of fixed costs are rent on equipment, utility costs, and research and development costs.

Variable costs refer to the costs that are associated directly with the number of units of product that are produced. For example, the materials used in making a product are considered variable costs of a product. The more products produced, the greater the costs incurred. Thus, variable costs are costs of a production process that increase or decrease along with changes in level of production, as opposed to fixed costs.

Direct costs are directly related to the things produced. In manufacturing, for example direct costs include raw materials and wages and indirect costs may include things like social security charges on top of the wages.

Operating costs, also known as overhead costs or overheads, are the costs which are additional to the direct costs of manufacturing or of providing services. They usually cover all the regular non-production costs of running a business, such as salaries and telephone bills, and can be extended, for example, to include the cost of marketing and R&D activities.

Spend, until recently only used as a verb, is now also used as a noun in expressions like marketing spend and in noun compounds like overspend.

 

When more units of a product or a service can be produced on a larger scale, yet with less input costs, economies of scale are said to be achieved. Alternatively, this means that as a company grows and production units increase, a company will have a better chance to decrease its costs. Typically, a company that achieves economies of scale lowers the average cost per unit through increased production since fixed costs are shared over an increased number of goods. Economies of scale is the theory that the larger the size of a production unit, the lower the unit cost: the cost of producing one ton of coal, one car, or one package holiday for example.

Economies of scale give large companies access to a larger market by allowing them to operate with greater geographical reach. But for the more traditional (small to medium) companies, size does have its limits, so after a point an increase in size (output) actually causes an increase in production costs. This is called " diseconomies of scale ".

VOCABULARY

costs expenses expenditure	- расходы, издержки, затраты
budget	- бюджет; финансовая смета
to budget to budget expenditures	- намечать планировать, составлять бюджет (смету)   - составлять бюджет (смету) расходов
to budget for	- предусматривать, выделять в бюджете; ассигновать по бюджету; выделять в бюджете сумму на какую-л. цель
fixed costs	- постоянные издержки, фиксированные затраты
variable costs	- переменные издержки, переменные затраты
direct costs	- прямые издержки, прямые затраты
indirect costs	- косвенные издержки
operating costs overhead costs overheads	- накладные расходы
marketing spend	- расходы на маркетинг
overspend	- перерасход
economies of scale	- экономия за счет масштаба, эффект масштаба (снижение средних затрат по мере увеличения объема выпуска)
unit cost cost per unit	- издержки на единицу продукции; себестоимость единицы продукции
diseconomies of scale	- отрицательный эффект масштаба, отрицательная экономия за счет масштаба (рост средних издержек производства по мере увеличения объемов выпуска)

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1) What do fixed costs refer to?

2) What kind of costs are called variable?

3) Give examples of direct and indirect costs.

4) What do overheads cover?

5) What does the term economies of scale (diseconomies of scale) mean?

 

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Faced with constraints on spending caused by record budget deficits and the demands of the war in Iraq, administration officials said on Friday that they had increased the budget for some health programs but cut many others, including some that address urgent health care needs.

Variable costs depend on how many goods are being made (output). If just one more unit is made then total variable costs rise. Fixed costs are totally independent of output. Fixed costs have to be paid out even if the factory stops production.

Firms locate their production and other operations internationally for reasons that are more complex than the simple minimization of direct costs.

Sales numbers are only one measure of success; reining in overhead costs and creating value for customers can make for greater success, even in the face of lower sales.

Many firms choose to merge rather than grow internally as it is often cheaper to do so and easier and quicker to become much larger and experience lower average costs through economies of scale.

 

TEXTS TO TRANSLATE:

18. EU Farm Agreement Reached, But Budget Questions Linger

The European Union on March 11 broke a deadlock over agricultural reform policy, a key component of a wider EU budget “shake-up”. The agreement, which is less radical than originally conceived, will open the way for a wider reform of the bloc’s funding.

But some farm ministers wondered whether the finan­cial aspects of the deal would produce further investigation when EU leaders meet in Berlin on March 24-25 to approve the agreement and consider an overall package on EU finances designed to allow the eventual admission of new members from Ea­stern Europe. "For me the work remains unfinished. There is a riskthat the accord will founder on the financial aspects," French Farm Minister Jean Glavany told reporters after the meeting. "It risks being rejected at the (Berlin) summit because it exceeds budgetary stabilisa­tion limits," he added.

But European Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said the deal, which was reached after three weeks of hard negotiations and durable ministerial talks, was the biggest "revamp" of the Common Agricultural Policy in its near 40-year history.

Member states were in a very difficult position because of the financial constraints and a failure to reach an accord on a slow cut-back of direct grants to farmers.

This meant ministers had to settle for a diluted version of the Commission's propos­als. The Berlin summit had also increased the pressure for an agreement on agricul­ture, which absorbs almost half of EU spending.

The accord, which was accomplished without the support of Portugal, will lead the EU's farm budget towards reduction, setting the subsidy bill at around 40 billion euros (USD 44 billion) a year. German Farm Minister Karl-Heinz Funke told a press con­ference the deal was around, two percent above the budget limits, but "we have nonethe­less hit the nail on the head."

The final compromise included a 20 percent cut in the EU's guaranteed grain price, reviewed over two years. Dairy support prices would be cut by 15 percent, yet the start date for the reform was postponed for three years. In the beef sec­tor, prices would be trimmed by 20 percent in three equal steps, instead of an original Commission plan for a 30 per­cent price reduction.

The Commission has argued that the farm and spending reforms are necessary in order for the EU to reach its planned expansion eastward, but also a position it can sup­port in new world trade talks due to start later this year. “The reform sends a clear sig­nal to our trading part­ners—which will be defended with vigour in the forthcom­ing round of WTO negotia­tions," Fischler said.

But some ministers be­lieve the compromise did not go far enough to satisfy the EU's trading partners, who are set to attack export subsi­dies in the talks.

"I suspect this will be chal­lenged in the next round (of talks). It's possible we'll have to return to these issues," Britain's Farm Minister Nick Brown said.

VOCABULARY:

overall package – общий пакет мер

grants – выплаты (субсидии)

subsidy - субсидия

 

TRANSLATION NOTES:

… finan­cial aspects of the deal would produce further investigation.. – финансовые аспекты этого соглашения потребуют дальнейшего рассмотрения

В данном предложении слово investigation утратило свое основное значение и переводится в зависимости от контекста. (См. часть Ш, раздел 1, § 3)

 

it exceeds budgetary stabilisa­tion limits – превышает допустимый уровень расходов из бюджета ЕС

В данном предложении следует прибегнуть к приему смыслового логического развития, чтобы обеспечить адекватность перевода. (См. часть Ш, раздел 2, § 4, п.4.3)

European Farm Commissioner – Комиссар ЕС по вопросам сельского хозяйства

accord – согласие, единство, гармония, соглашение.

Слово имеет множество значений, перевод которых зависит от широкого или узкого контекста. Например: accord payment – сдельная или аккордная оплата

economic (trade) accord – экономическое (торговое) соглашение

to do smth of your own accord – сделать что-либо самостоятельно, добровольно

to reach an accord – прийти к соглашению (См. часть Ш, раздел 1, § 3)

CAP – the Common Agricultural Policy – Единая аграрная политика ЕС

 

 

VOCABULARY CHECK

1) Постоянные затраты – это затраты предприятия, не зависящие от объема производства. К ним относятся затраты на содержание зданий, на содержание административного аппарата и т.д.

2) Переменные издержки – это затраты, которые меняют свою величину в связи с изменением объема производства и продаж. Если объем уменьшается - переменные издержки снижаются и наоборот. К переменным издержкам относятся затраты на сырье и материалы, комплектующие, заработную плату, транспортировку и страхование продукции.

3) Накладные расходы – расходы, сопутствующие основному производству. Эти затраты не связаны напрямую с производством отдельного изделия или вида работы. К ним относятся, например, затраты на аренду помещений, электроэнергию, административные накладные расходы, накладные расходы по сбыту, накладные расходы на исследования и разработки.

4) Экономия за счет масштаба позволяет компании снижать себестоимость единицы продукции при увеличении объемов производства.

5) Если при увеличении объемов производства средние издержки производства растут, это явление называется отрицательным экономическим эффектом от масштаба производства.

 

 

SECTION 3 SALES. THE BOTTOM LINE ON MARGINS

LEAD-IN

The most important goal of a company is to make money and keep it, which depends on liquidity and efficiency. Because these characteristics determine a company's ability to pay investors a dividend, profitability is reflected in share price. As such, investors should know how to analyze various facets of profitability, including how efficiently a company uses its resources and how much income it generates from operations. Calculating a company's profit margin is a great way to gain insight into these and other aspects of how well a company generates and retains money.

The bottom line is the first thing many investors look at to gauge a company's profitability. It's awfully tempting to rely on net earnings alone to gauge profitability, but it doesn't always provide a clear picture of the company.

Profit-margin ratios, on the other hand, can give investors deeper insight into management efficiency. But instead of measuring how much managers earn from assets, equity or invested capital, these ratios measure how much money a company squeezes from its total revenue or total sales.

Sales figures show unit sales (the number of goods sold) and sales revenue (sales revenues), or sales turnover (the money resulting from these sales). Sales volume, confusingly, can mean either unit sales (the number of goods sold), or sales revenues.

 

Margins, quite simply, are earnings expressed as a ratio - a percentage of sales. A percentage allows investors to compare the profitability of different companies.

There are three key profit-margin ratios: gross profit margins, operating profit margins and net profit margins.

 

The gross profit margin - or gross margin for short -is often the difference between the selling price of goods and their production cost, without taking into account other costs such as marketing and general overheads.

Let's say a company has $1 million in sales and the cost of its labor and materials amounts to $600,000. Its gross marginrate would be 40%.

It's important to remember that gross profit margins can vary drastically from business to business and from industry to industry. For instance, the airline industry has a gross margin of about 5%, while the software industry