Unit 3 Companies 公 司
Teaching & Learning Objectives l l l To enable Ss to talk about “companies” To familiarize Ss with vocabulary related to “companies” To develop Ss’ listening and reading skills To improve Ss’ presentation techniques To enhance Ss business writing techniques by writing a memo
Overview Starting Up Vocabulary: Describing companies Listening: Reasons for success Reading: Company website Skills: Presenting your company Case study: Valentino chocolate
Introduction l l Companies are involved in many activities, for example, buying, selling, marketing and production, in a range of different industries, such as information technology, telecommunications, film and car manufacture. Many well-known companies are multinationals, these are companies which operate in a number of countries. Multinationals often have a complicated structure. There is usually a parent or holding company. This company owns other companies or parts of other companies. These other companies are called subsidiaries.
Starting up A. Which of these companies would you like to work for? Why? 1 a family owned company 2 a multinational company 3 your own company (be self-employed) B. Which business sectors would you like to work in? ◆ Telecommunications/Media ◆ Transport ◆ Vehicle manufacturing ◆ Engineering ◆ IT /Electronics ◆ Retailing ◆ Food and drink ◆ Construction ◆ Pharmaceutical ◆ Tourism ◆ Banking and finance ◆ Other
Vocabulary Describing companies A. Complete the sentences with words and phrases from the box. share price profit turnover market share workforce subsidiary head office
Vocabulary 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Describing companies The amount of money a company receives from sales in a particular period is called its ______. turnover The money a company makes after taking away its cost is its ______. profit A company which is more than 50% owned by a parent company is called ______. subsidiary The employees in a particular country or business are called the _______. workforce The percentage of sales a company has in a particular market is its market share. _______ The main building or location of a large organisation is its ________. head office share price The cost of a company’s shares is its ______.
Vocabulary Describing companies B. Complete the extract from a company report with appropriate words or phrases from the box in Exercise A.
Financial Performance I am pleased to say the company has continued its excellent performance. We are changing, growing and doing well at a difficult time for the industry. _____ was € 57. 2 million, an increase of 15% Turnover profit on last year, and _____ rose by 5% to € 6. 4 million. We are a highly competitive business. We have increased our _______ to 20%. market share Consequently our ______ has risen and is share price now at an all-time high of € 9. 6.
Financial Performance Increased production and strong demand have had a positive effect on our cash flow, so we are able to finance a number of new projects. We have successfully moved to our new ______ in head office central London. We are now planning to start full production at the recently opened Spanish subsidiary _____ in October. Finally, thanks once again to our loyal and dedicated ______. Our employees will workforce always be our most valuable asset.
Vocabulary Describing companies C. Complete the chart with the information from the box. Then make sentences about the companies. Peugeot Benetton container ship operator American Express French Japanese Italian drug and chemical maker drinks supplier
Companies l l l Cisco Systems 思科系统：财富500强公司之 一，总部所在地美国, 主要经营网络设备。专门 生产路由器(routers)等网络硬件的美国思科公司 (Cisco Systems)是网络经济最热门领域中最成 功的公司，营业额连年增长 5成以上。 Peugeot 标致：财富500强公司之一，总部所在 地法国, 主要经营汽车。 American Express 美国运通：财富500强公司 之一，总部所在地美国, 主要经营多种金融。
Companies l l BAYER 拜耳：财富500强公司之一，总部所在 地德国, 主要经营化学。拜耳公司（BAYER）是 世界知名的跨国公司，其成立于1863年的德国 勒沃库森市，业务领域涉及医药保健、作物科 学、材料科技以及化 等。并且发明了享誉世 界的阿司匹林（Aspirin）、尼膜地平（Nimotop） 等药物，为人类的健康做出了卓越的贡献。 贝纳通公司(Benetton Group) 是一家意大利上 市公司，拥有的品牌有 United Colors of Benetton, Sisley, Playlife, Killer Loop。
Vocabulary Describing companies Company Main activity Nationality Cisco Systems Internet equipment supplier American Car manufacturer French Peugeot Bacardi Martini Drinks supplier Spanish American Express Travel and financial services provider American Bayer Drug and chemical maker German Benetton Clothing manufacturer Italian Sony Electronic goods maker Japanese Maersk Container ship operator Danish
Cisco Systems, Inc. It is a multinational corporation with more than 66, 000 employees and annual revenue of US$39 billion as of 2008. Headquartered in San Jose, California, it designs and sells networking and communications technology and services under five brands, namely Cisco, Linksys, Web. Ex, Iron. Port, and Scientific Atlanta.
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën. It is the second largest automaker in Europe, behind Volkswagen. Peugeot's roots go back to pepper, salt and coffee mill manufacturing in 1842 and later bicycle manufacturing at the end of the 19 th century. Its world headquarters are in Paris, Avenue de la Grande Armée, close to Porte Maillot and the Concorde Lafayette Hotel but the Peugeot company and family is originally from Sochaux, France. Peugeot retains a large manufacturing plant in Sochaux which is also home to the Peugeot Museum. The company also sponsors the Sochaux football club, founded in 1928 by a member of the Peugeot family: the club' s arms contain a lion logo similar to Peugeot‘s.
Bacardi Martini Bacardi-Martini, Ltd. engages in bottling and distributing alcohol beverages. It also distributes liquors. The company is headquartered in Southampton, the United Kingdom. Bacardi-Martini, Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Bacardi International Limited.
American Express, sometimes known as “Am. Ex” or “Amex”, is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. American Express makes money even if you do leave home without it. The company is one of the world's largest travel agencies, but it is equally as well known for its charge cards and revolving credit cards. And yes, the company still issues traveler's checks and publishes such magazines as Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure through its American Express Publishing unit. Its travel agency operations have more than 2, 200 locations worldwide and its Travelers Cheque Group is the world’s largest issuer of traveler's checks (it also issues gift cards). But the company's charge and credit cards are its bread and butter; American Express has issued more than 86 million cards worldwide.
Bayer AG is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. Today it is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is wellknown for its original brand of aspirin. Bayer is currently the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world.
Benetton Group S. p. A. is a global clothing brand, based in Treviso, Italy. The name comes from the Benetton family who founded the company in 1965. Benetton Group is listed in Milan and the Frankfurt. If Benetton had a theme song, it could be “We Are the World. ” Italy‘s largest clothing maker, The Benetton Group pushes a global attitude in its ads while dressing customers in about 120 countries through some 5, 500 franchised Benetton stores, department stores, and megastores. Benetton’s clothing -primarily casual knitwear and sportswear for men, women, and children -- bears labels such as United Colors of Benetton (about 75% of sales) and Sisley.
Sony Corporation is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue of US$88. 7 billion (as of 2008). Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from Sonus, the Greek goddess of sound.
Maersk (马士基航运公司) The A. P. Moller-Maersk Group is an international business conglomerate more commonly known simply as Maersk has activities in a variety of business sectors, primarily transportation (container shipping fleet) and energy (offshore oil exploration and transportation). It is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world. Maersk is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has subsidiaries and offices in more than 130 countries worldwide. The group has around 110, 000 employees. It stood as number 131 on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2008. Up from 138 in 2007. Maersk is the second largest company in Scandinavia by revenue.
Listening Reasons for success A. Bruno Tagliaferri is UK Sales Manager at Triumph, the British motorcycle manufacturer. Listen to the first part of the interview. What three reasons does he give for triumph’s success? 1. Triumph has a very strong brand name. 2. It has invested in and developed new models. 3. It has given the bike a very up-to-date look: it has focused on styling and on the quality of the product.
Listening Reasons for success B. Complete this extract from the first part of the interview. We’ve focused on _____1 and also on the _____2 of our product. It’s taken a bit of time to build up _____3, but we’ve done well in the first nine years, and we are now a _____4 alternative ______5.
Listening Reasons for success B. Complete this extract from the first part of the interview. We’ve focused on styling 1 and also on the quality 2 of our product. It’s taken a bit of time to build up sales 3, but we’ve done well in the first nine years, and we are now a serious 4 alternative manufacturer 5.
Listening Reasons for success C. Listen to the second part of the interview. Which of the following statements are true? 1. T 2. T 3. F 4. F 5. F 6. T 7. F
Listening Reasons for success D. 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?
Reading l l What clothing companies do you like? Why do you like them? What are the most successful clothing companies in your country?
Reading C. Read this text about Zodiac, a highly successful clothing company, and complete the chart. The information is from its company website. Brands Zodiac, Gemini, Capricon Revenues More than $8 billion Headquarters Seattle Number of employees More than 100, 000 Main aim Long-term, quality growth
Reading D. Find the answers to the questions (p 25). 2 1 a. 1998 b. 1989 c. 1984 d. 1978 e. 1999 a. Seattle b. Japan c. Seattle d. Paris e. Toronto
Skills Presenting your company A. 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. summarize your main points. tone: stress, volume (loudness) and intonation (rise and fall of the voice)
Skills B. Listen and complete the chart. Tara Fashions Where is the head office? Cordoba, Spain What does it sell? Clothes Who are its customers? Fashion-conscious men and women aged 20— 35 Annual turnover? € 260 million Annual net profits? € 16 million Number of stores: in Spain? in other European cities? 15 14 (5 new stores next year) Strengths Can bring out new designs very quickly Designs sold at right price Future plans? New store in New York next year
Tara Fashions l l Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming to my presentation. My name’s Marta Rodriguez. I’m Personnel Director of Tara Fashions. I’m going to talk to you today about our company. First, I’ll give you some basic information about Tara 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 Tara. 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 Tara. 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.
Tara Fashions l l l Let me add a few figures. We have an annual turnover of about E 260 million. Our net profits last year were approximately E 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.
Tara Fashions l l 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?
Skills C. Listen again. Tick the phrases that you hear in the Useful language box. 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.
Skills Presenting your company Make a presentation about a company you invent. Use the headings in Exercise B to help you prepare a presentation for it. Try to use Useful language as much as possible.
Case Study Valentino chocolates Read Background, Expansion and The future of Valentino, and complete the table below.
Case Study Valentino chocolates Company Products Based in Began by Employees Shops Sales problems Production Problems Personnel problems Profits as a percentage of sales in the last 3 years Future aims Growth depends on Valentino
Case Study: Valentino chocolates Company Valentino Products Fine chocolates (80% of production), mainly packaged chocolates and Classic Bars Based in Turin, Italy Began by Selling raw chocolate to other manufacturers Employees 300 Shops 75 Sales problems Falling demand for best-selling products; price-cutting; new products are unsuccessful. Production Problems Machines often break down Personnel problems Sales staff becoming demotivated. Profits as a percentage of sales in the last 3 years Falling (from 14. 2% to 7. 07%) Future aims To be an international company Growth depends on Finding new products and new markets
Case Study Valentino chocolates l l “Valentino can continue to grow, but only it develops new products and finds new markets. ” Study Chart 3: Investment options. Work in pairs and prepare a presentation of your investment plan, with reasons for your choices. When you deliver your presentation, you may use the following expressions: One option is (to extend the factory). This would (cost 500, 000 euros) and it would (increase the capacity by 30%). Valentino could (buy new machinery). This would (cost 200, 000 euros) but it would (end the delays caused by the old machines breaking down).
Homework Writing As a director of Valentino Chocolates, write a memo to your CEO outlining your investment plan. Give reasons for your choices.
