" Business is Darwinisim : only the fittest to survive " Roubert Holmes a Court (1937 - 1990 ) Chairman of Bell Group

A- Before doing the quiz below, say whether you are:

a) very competitive          b) fairly competitive          c) not at all competitive.

B - Answer the questions in the quiz. Then check your score.




Vocabulary : Competition Idioms

There are many idioms from sport used in business, particularly when talking about competition. Complete the idioms below with the nouns in the list. Which sports do you think they come from ?

player - ropes - game - field - ball - seat - horse - goalposts - race - neck

1 a level playing field
2 in the driving    
3 to be neck and    
4 flogging a dead    
5 a major    
6 move the    
7 keep your eye on the    
8 ahead of the    
9 a one-horse    
10 on the            

1- In groups, discuss what you know about Starbucks and McDonald's.

2- Read the first two paragraphs of the article. Which company is focusing more on the international market?


3- Read the whole article, then look at these company plans. Write 'M'
(McDonald's) or 'S' (Starbucks) for each one.

1 start competing in the coffee-bar market               
2 replace their Chief Executive                                    
3 slow expansion in the US                                          
4 introduce coffee bars with 'baristas'                       
5 close under-performing stores                                 
6 focus on international plans                                     
7 allow customers to see drinks being made            
8 use simple sizes for coffees                                       
9 probably offer coffee at a lower price than their major competitors   

1 We were going to     five new staff next month, but then the economy
crashed.
2 They pretended it was a merger, but it feels like we were    
3 We were    when the president announced his resignation.
4 It is very difficult to    a loan these days.
5 After the new product launch, sales are expected to   

Passives


• We make passive verb forms with the verb to be + the past participle.
                          Starbucks was started by Howard Schultz.
• We often choose a passive structure when we are not interested in who performs an action or it is not necessary to know.
Howard Schultz was awarded an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University.
• If we want to mention who performs the action, we can use by.
   Howard Schultz was named Chief Executive by the company's Board.
• We often use a passive structure to be impersonal or formal (for example, in notices, announcements or reports).
It has been agreed that the prototype will be tested next month.
• Some verbs can only be used in the active, e.g. occur, rise, happen, arise, fall, exist, consist (of), depend (on), result (from).
• Some verbs which often appear in the passive are: (be) born, situate, design, estimate, bose, test, accuse, jail, shoot, bother.

Look at the sentences. Correct the incorrect ones.(when correct type "CORRECT" )

1 The result of the leadership contest was based on the boardroom vote.   
2 The leadership contest was depended on the boardroom vote.   
3 Where were you when the president was be shot?    
4 The CEO has been accused of stealing funds from the pension fund.   
5 They are depend on the CEO to show strong leadership.    
6 He was jailed for six months.    
7 I can't be bothered to finish this report.    
8 All the candidates need to be tested.   
9 Problems may be occurred after the leadership vote.   
10 The CEO's strategy is based on her second book.   
11 The President of the company was born in 1962.   
12 The audience is consist largely of senior executives.