Pharmaceutical company Cable operator

What the company does

Current activities

BA = Business analyst

BA: Right, so the first company I want to look at is a pharmaceuticals company. It develops and manufactures a wide range of medicines and it's currently developing a new drug against asthma. Well, as you all know, more and more people are suffering from asthma so they hope to make a healthy profit from this drug. The company is currently preparing to launch a TV advertising campaign. As you may know, it is illegal to show drugs on TV, so the campaign focuses on the illnesses not the drugs. It will be interesting to see public reaction to this.

BA: So let's have a look at the second company. This company is a cable operator. Well, it provides cable television to thousands and thousands of homes but it wants to expand and it's developing a new high-speed Internet service. Now,

this service uses cables not phone wires and this means it is very fast, 100 times faster than a normal phone line. As you know, the number of people who are using the internet is growing and growing and everyone wants instant information so this is a company with a great future.

TEXT II. PRESENTING YOUR COMPANY

 

Q Which of these suggestions do you agree with?

To make an effective presentation, you should:

1 find out as much as possible about your audience.

2 introduce yourself (name, position, company).

3 start with a joke.

4 outline the structure of your talk.

5 vary the tone of your voice.

6 refer to your notes as often as possible.

7 use clear visual aids.

8 summarise your main points.

Read a presentation about Тага Fashions .

(MR = Marta Rodriguez)

MR

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming to my presentation. My name's Marta Rodriguez. I'm Personnel Director of Тага Fashions. I'm going to talk to you today about our company. First, I'll give you some basic information about Тага Fashions. Then I'll talk about our overseas stores. After that I'll outline the strengths of the company. Next I'll talk about career opportunities with Тага. And finally I'll mention our future plans. I'll be pleased to answer any questions at the end of my talk. Let me start with some basic facts about Тага. The company started in 1978. We are a family-owned business and our head office is in Cordoba, Spain. We sell clothes for men and women, and our customers are mainly fashion-conscious people aged 20 to 35. We have 15 stores in Spain. All of the stores are very profitable.

Right, those are the basic facts. Let me add a few figures. We have an annual turnover of about?260 million. Our net profits last year were approximately?16 million. We have a workforce of just over 2,000 employees. So those are the numbers. Now about our overseas stores. We have 4 large stores in France and another 10 in other European countries. We are planning to open 5 new stores next year. What are our strengths? We keep up with fashion trends. If we spot a trend, we can bring out a new design in 15 days. And we get it to the stores very quickly. We deliver to stores twice a week. And we sell our designs at the right price.

OK, now what about career opportunities? It's quite simple. If you are ambitious and fashion-conscious, we have opportunities in all areas of our business. We will welcome you with open arms. Finally, a few words about our new project. We are planning to open a new store in New York next year -on Fifth Avenue. This will give us a foothold in the US market. We're very excited about this new development.

Well, thanks very much for listening to my talk. Are there any questions?

 

A. Complete the chart.

Тага Fashions

 

Where is the head office? Cordoba, Spain

What does it sell?

 

Who are its customers?

Annual turnover?

Annual net profits?

Number of stores: in Spain?

in other European cities?

Strengths?

Future plans?

B. Invent a company. Use the headings in Exercise A to help you prepare a presentation about it. Then work in pairs. Make a presentation about the company. Ask questions after your partner's presentation.

 

Useful language

 

Outlining the presentation

First, I'll give you some basic information.

Secondly, I'll talk about our stores in other countries.

Next, I'll talk about career opportunities.

Last of all, I want to look at our future plans.

Introducing new information

Here's some basic information.

Let me add a few figures.

Let's have a look at some statistics.

What are our strengths?

Ending the presentation

To conclude, I want to tell you about our future plans.

Finally, a few words about our new project.

Thanks very much for listening to my talk.

Thanks for coming to my presentation.

 

TEXT III. TRIUMPH

 

A Bruno Tagliaferri is UK Sales Manager at Triumph, the British motorcycle manufacturer. Read the first part of the interview. What three reasons does he give for Triumph's success?

(I = Interviewer, ВТ = Bruno Tagliaferri)

I. Bruno Tagliaferri, Triumph has been very successful in relaunching the company and increasing its sales. What are the reasons for its success?

ВТ Well, I think there are a number of reasons. Firstly. I think Triumph has a very strong brand name. It's a model that goes back to the early 1900s. It's possibly still one of the strongest names in motorcycling, so we've been able to build on our reputation and on the name. Secondly, we've developed new models which have attracted people's attention. We've invested a lot of money in these models, and they've helped us to compete with other companies in the motorcycle industry. The third reason for our success is, I believe, we've given the bike a very up-to-date look. We've focussed on styling and also on the quality of our product.

 

It's taken a bit of time to build up sales, but we've done well in the first nine years, and we are now a serious alternative manufacturer.

 

Complete this extract from the first part of the interview.

We've focussed on ……………1 and also on the ……………… 2 of our product.

It's taken a bit of time to build up ………………………… 3, but we've donewell

in the first nine years, and we are now a ………………4 alternative ………………..5.

 

B

Which of the following statements do you think are true?

1 The key markets are those in which the most motorcycles are sold.

2 In France, Triumph has its own subsidiary.

3 Triumph has its own staff in all its overseas markets.

4 Triumph has a poor dealer network which needs to be improved.

5 Buyers of motorcycles are enthusiastic, but they do not know a lot about motorcycles.

6 More than 8o% of Triumph's production is sold abroad.

7 France is Triumph's largest market in Europe

Read the second part of the interview and compare your ideas.

I. Most of your sales are exports. How do you create interest abroad?

ВТ Well, to create interest abroad, firstly in our key markets, those are the markets with volume sales, we've got subsidiaries, so they're companies we wholly own; America, Germany and France are key motorcycle markets. From day one, we've had our own staff and local staff in subsidiaries. In other markets we've got very good distributors. So, through those two routes, subsidiaries and distributors, we have a strong dealer network. The dealers are very professional at marketing, so we can launch all of their new models with a very strong PR campaign and support the dealers' local marketing.

I What else can you tell me about your distribution in key markets?

ВТ We want the dealers to strongly promote motorcycling. They must have a subnetwork of dealers who are positive and enthusiastic about our company. When you're selling motorcycles, you're selling a product to people who are very knowledgeable. So you need people at a retailing level who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the product and able to sell it in the face of strong competition.

We've been successful in creating interest abroad. In fact, today over 80 percent of what we manufacture here goes to export markets. The key markets, the markets with the greatest potential, as I said before, are America, where Triumph Meriden traditionally sold the majority of its products; Germany, which is our largest market in Europe; and France.

C Discuss these questions.

1 Which brands of motorcycle are most popular in your country?

2 What kinds of people buy motorcycles?

3 Should your government encourage people to use motorcycles in large cities?

 

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TEXT IV. WHAT IS A SUCCESS?