Business : Int: Competition - The Speaking Cats

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" 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

Which of the idioms in the previous Exercise refer to:

a) a situation of fair competition?

b) being in fronl of the competition?

c) being at the same level as the competition?

d) being the only competitor?

e) wasting your time on a hopeless situation?

f) staying focused?

g) a change in the rules?

h) being in control?

i) being in a very bad situation?

j) an important company or person with a lot of power or influence?

Complete the extracts with the most suitable idioms . Remember to change the verb form where necessary.

level playing field - in the driving seat - to be neck and neck - flogging a dead horse - a major player - move the goalposts - keep your eye on the ball - ahead of the game - a one-horse race - on the ropes

1- It's not a    any more. As a small. family-owned company. it's very difficult for us to compete with the big multinationals in terms of price.
2- They are so far ahead of their competitors in terms of new products that it has become    .It will be years before their rivals catch up with them.
3- There's no pOint continuing with the project. It'll never work. We're    We need to look elsewhere if we're to fight off the competition.
4- With our market dominance in Asia, we're in an extremely powerful position. We are really
5- We have exactly the same market share as our nearest rival. According to independent research, we're also    in terms of sales so far this year as well.
6- Although the market has expanded, there are still really only two    They will fight it out for market dominanc

Discuss the questions.
1 Have you ever felt you were flogging a dead horse
a) at work? b) in your private life?
2 Which companies are ahead of the game in your industry or the industry you would like to work in?
3 Can you give an example of a situation when
a) someone moved the goalposts? How did you feel? b) you were in the driving seat?
4 Name some major players in the following industries:
automotive, telecoms, computing, electronics, an industry you know well

Reading

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

4- Reread the article's headline and first three paragraphs and find the prepositions that go with these verbs.

1 stir 2 replace 3 lose 4 focus 5 take

5- Match the verbs and prepositions with the meanings (a-e).

stir up - lose out to - take on - replace by - focus on

a) to not get something because someone else gets it instead
b) to compete or fight against someone
c) to give all your attention to a particular thing
d) to take something else's place
e) to deliberately cause problems

6- Match the phrasal verbs with take with the meanings (a-e).

1 be taken aback

a) grow rapidly

b) give employment to

c) be surprised

d) gain control of a company

e) arrange (of money)

2 take off

a) grow rapidly

b) give employment to

c) be surprised

d) gain control of a company

e) arrange (of money)

3 take on

a) grow rapidly

b) give employment to

c) be surprised

d) gain control of a company

e) arrange (of money)

4 take out

a) grow rapidly

b) give employment to

c) be surprised

d) gain control of a company

e) arrange (of money)

5 take over

a) grow rapidly

b) give employment to

c) be surprised

d) gain control of a company

e) arrange (of money)

7- Complete the sentences with an appropriate form of take and a preposition.

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

Answer the questions.
1 Do you think that McDonald's strategy will be successful?
2 How do you think Starbucks will respond?

Listening

The CompetitionCommission

Rory Taylor is Media Relations Manager for the UK's Competition Commission. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer the questions.

1 What does the Competition Commission do?
2 Why are they investigating the ownership of U K airports?

Listen to the second part and decide whether the statements are true or false .

1 For the Competition Commission, the most important thing is the number of providers in a market.

True

False

2 In static markets, there is not much competition.

True

False

3 The UK grocery market is dominated by a few companies.

True

False

4 The grocery market is not competitive.

True

False

Listen to the third part and complete the extract.

We found a far more market. Er, we found that customers were not between the companies, the companies were not with each other, erm, and consequently we were finding higher , less and less .

LANGUAGE REVIEW : Passives

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.

Skilla: Negotiating

Negotiating

An Italian bicycle manufacturer wants to enter the S wedish market, using an agent. The manufacturer and the agent disagree about some terms of their proposed contract. listen to the discussion between them and answer the questions.

1 Which of these points did the two sides agree on during the negotiation?

a) the type of relationship they want

b) who sets prices

c) payment of commission

d) who pays for promotion

2 Why does the agent want the contract to be longer than two years?

3- Match the direct phrases (1-5) to the more diplomatic versions (a-e).

1 We must talk about price first . a) Your price seems rather high.
2 There's no way we can give you any credit. b) Unfortunately, I can't lower my price.
3 I want a discount. c) Could you possibly give me a discount?
4 I won't lower my price. d) I'm afraid we can't give you any credit.
5 Your price is far too high. e) I think we should talk about price first.

listen to and complete the extracts from the negotiation

1 A non-exclusive contract     for us, too.
2 No, that's     for us.
3 We know the market conditions     than you.
4 I     a rate of 15% on all the revenue you obtain.
5 Fifteen per cent is too low. We     20%.
6 We     with this.
7 How much    ?
8 We'll     the commission later.
9     with a new distributor, we prefer a shorter period.
10 It    at least three years.

Role-play

Role-play the negotiation between a store owner and the manufacturer of Sheen, a hair shampoo for women. Be diplomatic.

Store owner
• You want to order 50 bottles of
Sheen at the quoted price.
• You want a 10% discount.
• You want 60 days' credit.
• You want delivery in two weeks.

Shampoo manufacturer
• You get a bonus if the order is over
100 bottles.
• You don't give a discount for orders
of less than 100 bottles.
• You want payment on delivery.
• You can deliver in three weeks.

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