Audioscripts

main role is to check the contracts with

Listening 1 page 12 suppliers, but I also negotiate new contracts.
I’m an accountant at a Finnish paper
Fart one manufacturing company. We make the paper
Many companies employ teams who work for magazines. I’m responsible for payments
together across borders and time zones. We call to suppliers. I check the invoices from
them virtual teams because they communicate suppliers and send the payments.
almost entirely by email. Modern technology
makes communication very simple and fast - but Decision page 14
there can be problems. There is a big risk of
misunderstanding. With team members speaking i Alistair Cross
different languages and belonging to different George Johnstone is an excellent export manager
cultures, small problems can become big and a very good salesman. But he doesn’t have
problems. experience of Mexico. When you start to do
Fart two business in a new region, it’s very important to
When you work together in a virtual team, you understand the culture. If you make mistakes, you
have to know and trust each other. It’s important can lose a customer. Linda has a lot of experience
to build a relationship. When you join a virtual of doing business in Spain, and she knows
team, write an email to the others to introduce something of South American cultures. She also
yourself. Tell your colleagues about your job, your speaks excellent Spanish. So we think that Linda
work experience, your interests. is the best person to take responsibility for
When you write an email, don’t just focus on ^exports to Mexico. We know that she may not
work. Make conversation - ask about the weather want to stay in jhe job for more than two or three
or mention something that is going on at the years, so we are also looking for a new person to
moment. join the sales team - someone who speaks good
Spanish and has a lot of experience of doing
You need to explain things clearly to make sure business in Latin America. Then if Linda wants to
there is no chance of misunderstanding. stop travelling, we will have someone who can
If you have to say something negative, be careful. take this role.
Remember, you can’t smile in an email. A written
message can sometimes seem very strong to the
other person. Using polite phrases helps a lot! Listening 1 page 16
When you often write to the same colleagues, you
usually develop an informal, friendly style. But if Hello. I’m Amy. I work in the sales
you write to people in business that you don’t department and I manage customer data. I
know well, you need to be more formal. keep records of customers. We have a file for
each customer with their name, address and
order details. But I also store details about
Listening 2 page 13 their buying habits. What are their likes and
dislikes? How often do they order and so on.
I'm a systems developer and I work for a And I enter all this in the customer database.
finance company. I'm responsible for our We use the information when we want to
website and managing the IT systems. But I send special offers to different groups of
also develop new systems for the future. customers.
I work as a project manager for a travel I’m Bob and my job is to research the
company. We help hotels to develop websites. market. I try to answer three questions. One:
My role is to meet clients and find out what how many consumers are there in the market?
they want from their website. Then I prepare a Two: who are they? And three: what do they
proposal and present it to them. want? We collect a lot of data about the
I’m a lawyer and I work for a mobile people who browse our website. But we also
phone company. We make deals with use surveys and other methods. I write
companies to supply parts and services. My reports to help the marketing team develop
their strategy.
162 W Audioscripts
Carla: My name is Carla. I work as a buyer. I The second step is to create files for each kind cf
always try to find the best products at the best material. Give each file a name. Ask yourself: %
price. Of course we have our regular suppliers. this name helpful when I want that file again?
But I also search for new products, new The third step is to arrange your files for easy
suppliers and special offers on the internet. I access. Ask yourself: Which files do I use often?
use different search engines and I update our Which are important? Put these files at the front
files with the new information. of the filing area. Or on a computer, create a
short-cut to those files.
Listening 2 page 19 Finally, keep your filing system up-to-date. Delete
or throw away old material. File new information
OK. Here is our weekly statistics report for immediately in the right place. And review your
our website. As you can see here, we had a system often. Ask yourself: Does this system work
total of 4,542 hits this week. That’s very good - for me? Can I organise it better?
a lot more than we usually have. The average Finding information takes time. A good filing
time for each session is 1.5 minutes. That’s system can save you a lot of time.
quite normal. And the average number of
pages that people view ima session is 2.7.
Listening 5 page 21
Again, nothing unusual there. The most
popular page is the products page, with 2,430
hits. We expect this of course. Most people Thanks for agreeing to help with my research.
want to know about products. Then there’s the B That’s OK. What do you need to know?
offers page with 1,395 hits. We had a number Well, first, about how many people are online,
of good deals on offer this week, and lots of worldwide?
people were interested in those! Now let’s see B Worldwide? It’s difficult to say exactly. But we
the breakdown of traffic by continent. Most think it’s about 600 million.
people who visit our website are from North Did you say 600 million? That’s a lot!
America - that’s 57 per cent. The Americans Yes. It’s difficult to be precise because it’s
are usually top of the list, but this percentage increasing all the time.
isn’t as high as last week. Then it’s Europe Right. So how many of those are in Europe?
with 31 per cen t... and after th a t... B About 30 per cent.
Sorry - can I just check? Thirteen per cent?
Listening 3 page 19 B No, not thirTEEN, THIRty per cent.
Thirty per cent. Hmm. So that’s about 200
million.
Si 815 t 10,000 4,905
B Just under 200 million, yes. The number I’ve
3.2 10.98 c 15.361 got here is 190.91 million.
Vs ' lh 1h What a number! Can you repeat it, please?
4 2% 48% 91.3% B A hundred and ninety point nine one
£102 4,000USD €9m million.
OK. And how much time does each person
spend browsing the web?
Listening 4 page 19 B The average time is over 25 hours.
Do you mean 25 hours a week?
Sandra Reveil B No, no - 25 hours a month.
Right, thanks. I think that’s everything ...
Lots of people have to manage large amounts of
information. You may be a manager, a secretary,
or a student. When you have information that Decision page 22
you may want to use in the future, you have to
store it where you can find it again. Deepak Gupta
The first step is to decide how to structure your Countries such as India and China have huge
filing system. Ask yourself: What are the main numbers of people and offer a great opportunity
categories of information that I deal with? Then to companies like eBay. But there can be problems
divide them into sub-categories. if you don’t understand the local market. For
example, people may shop in different ways and
use different payment methods. There is also the

Audioscripts ■ 163
 problem of competition from local companies, for I London
example Baazee, who have a better understanding Most people that I know don’t like to start work
o f the market in India. early. We hate breakfast meetings! People are
So what did eBay do? Well in 2004, eBay decided always in a hurry - so being on time for meetings
to buy the biggest online retailer in India - Baazee is important. People think the British are very
- for 50 million dollars. They believed that buying formal. But things are changing. I think we’re
a local company was the best way to enter a new quite informal nowadays. Some men still wear
market. Baazee understood the market and could formal business suits - but a lot of people come to
show eBay how to operate. Of course it was a high work in casual clothes. Lunch is often a quick
cost for the first year or two. But the company was sandwich and a coffee. After work, we like to go to
sure that they would make money in the long the pub with colleagues. At the pub you can talk
term. about anything you like!
New York
Listening 1 page 24 Life in New York is fast and dynamic. Some
people say that we’re rude. I don’t mean to be
rude - I just don’t have much time for being
Part one polite! Work starts early in the morning -
There are different opinions about what is polite
breakfast meetings start at 7am - don’t be late!
or impolite. Different cultures express politeness
Most people dress in suits for business - it’s
in different ways. Even in the same country, there
important to look smart. A lot of people eat at
may be different views about what are good
their desk at lunchtime. But if we go to a
manners or bad manners. But the same rules
restaurant, we talk business right through lunch.
apply everywhere. Politeness is about showing
We don’t talk about the food. People are very
respect for others. It means thinking about other
competitive and work always comes first!
people’s feelings.
Part two Unit 3 Listening 3 page 28
In formal situations, we follow standard rules for
politeness. In business, we are usually polite when
Could you give me your coat, please?
we make new contacts, meet customers or people
Could you give me your coat, please?
from other companies. Politeness is often linked
Could I have some more coffee, please?
to status. We are usually more polite to people
Bring me that document, please.
above us in the organisational hierarchy. In
5 Mary! Can you go and find some more chairs.
today’s working environment, most managers
Would you sign this form, please?
show respect for their workers. They might say,
‘We really need to send the report as soon as
possible. Could you please do it today?’ If you Listening 4 page 29
consider other people’s feelings, they are usually
more willing to work hard, to help and to Conversation 1
cooperate. Excuse me, there’s a mistake - my name is
J - O - H - N, not J - O - N.
Listening 2 page 27 jane: Oh, OK.
Conversation 2
Sydney Would you like to come with us to a
We in Sydney are very easy-going and relaxed restaurant for dinner this evening?
about rules. But we work hard. We start work That would be very nice. Thank you!
pretty early in the morning. Breakfast meetings are Conversation 3
common, starting at 8am. And we like to start joh Can I introduce Caroline Day?
meetings on time - so it’s important not to be late! Oh - we already know each other.
We’re generally very informal. Men often wear a Hello, Caroline! How are you?
jacket and tie during office hours. But we prefer
Conversation 4
informal clothes when the weather’s hot. For
j;.-j Is it OK to park in front of the office?
lunch, we usually go out for a sandwich. What do
ic: I’m sorry. It isn’t allowed. You can use the
we talk about? Well - it isn’t difficult to talk to
car park at the back.
Australians - we’re very friendly people. But it
helps a lot if you can talk about sport.

164 ■ Audioscripts
Conversation 5
jane Thanks very much for the gift. It’s beautiful! Listening 2 page 37
Barbara: I’m glad you like it.
Conversation 6 Dee Delaney
Thanks for all your help with the travel,
Companies don’t just sell products. They sell a
jack: That’s all right. No problem.
lifestyle. Nearly everything you buy says something
about you: your clothes, your car, your mobile, all
Decision page 30
show what kind of life you have. Customers
choose brands that represent their lifestyle, or the
Gary Robinson lifestyle they want to have.
Bullying is a difficult problem and the solution Through advertising, companies try to promote an
depends on the situation and the type of bully. In image of the kind of people their customers want
Elizabeth’s case, she is the only one in her team to be. For example, Ray-Ban - the sunglasses
that Valma bullies. This probably means that producer - ran an advertising campaign with
Valma sees Elizabeth as a competitor and that’s photos of strong, dynamic men. The idea was that
why she tries to make her look stupid. She wants men who are leaders and heroes wear Ray-Bans.
to keep her at the lowest level in the team. Another example is Gap. They have a range of
Elizabeth should not try to talk to Valma directly. clothing for men called StressFree. You can drop
This will only make things more difficult between something on your trousers and it cleans off
them. immediately. So you have no worries. You can be
The best option for Elizabeth, therefore, is to talk relaxed and stylish at the same time. The
to a senior manager. But first, she must collect as company advertised the clothing with the song,
many facts as she can. It is a good idea to keep a I’m Free.
diary of events. Each time she experiences
bullying, she should make a note of it, writing Listening 3 page 39
down where and when it happened. If her
colleagues can support her story, that’s even better. Customer 1
If the senior manager understands the situation,
I think it’s a good desk. You can use it for a PC or
he can move Elizabeth to another team or to
laptop. I’m a student and I need a desk to study. I
another department. Or he may decide to move
could put it in my bedroom. The desk is quite
the bully. He can also give Elizabeth the chance to
small, so it’s ideal for a small room. But it’s got
do the training she wants.
lots of space for books and papers. It’s great, yeah!
If the senior manager doesn’t believe Elizabeth, or
| Customer 2
doesn’t want to help her, then the only solution
for her, unfortunately, is to leave the company. I’m an office designer and it’s part of my job to
Bullying causes a lot of stress. It’s better to start choose desks and chairs for new offices. In my
again in a new job than to continue in a bad opinion, this desk isn’t designed for use in an
situation for months or years. office. It’s too small. Most office workers need
more space. When you have to sit at a desk all
Listening 1 page 36 day, you need a bigger desk than this!
| Customer 3
luxury luxurious I have an office job but I also work at home. I
fashion fashionable think this desk could be suitable for me. It looks
industry industrial stylish. It’s made of good quality wood. And I like
the fact that it’s got wheels - so you can move it
creation creative
easily. I think it’s very practical.
commerce commercial
economy economic
fame famous
talent talented

Audioscripts ■ 165
 research should answer two key questions. First, is
Decision page 40 there a demand for your product or service?
Second, who are your competitors?
Ernst Jungbaum When you know you have a market, the next step
To solve its problem, VW launched two new is to prepare a good business plan. Your business
models: the Touareg, a top-end sports utility plan helps you to focus on what you want to do.
vehicle, and the Phaeton, a luxury executive car. It also helps with the fourth step: getting finance.
Although their business up to that time was based You have to decide what type of business you
on middle-priced cars, they knew that there was want to have, your goals, your product or service
very good business in the luxury car market too. and its key selling points. In the plan, you also
They wanted to give their existing customers need to show that you can run the business. So
something to move on to. you include information about staff, management,
They also wanted to build some of the best cars production, marketing and, of course, finance.
in the luxury market and be a strong competitor This shows that you know how to run a business.
just as they were in their existing markets. It isn’t But the most important step is the fifth one: to
easy to develop a new image - it takes a little build a customer base. You need a number of
time. But the company felt sure that the time was regular customers who come back to you year
right to make the move. after year. A strong customer base is key to
making a success of your business.
Listening 1 page 42
Listening 3 page 47
Jake Goldrick
What makes a company successful?
Ben Hope
After graduating, I joined a design company. It
To begin with, of course, a successful company
was a good job and I enjoyed it. But only two
has to make a profit. That means that it has to
years later, the company went bankrupt and I
keep costs as low as possible - the cost of
lost my job. I looked for other jobs, but couldn’t
manufacturing, for example. Secondly you need to
find anything interesting. So what did I do? I
make big sales so there has to be a demand for
decided to start my own business. To begin with,
your products. And of course, you want to be
it was very hard work. But after about a year, I
competitive. If your competitor brings out a better
got my first big contract: to design the new offices
product, you can lose customers. The most
of a local company. The company liked what I
successful companies control the market. That
did and I got more work. Then came economic
means they have a bigger percentage of sales and
problems. It was a difficult time for all businesses
a bigger market share than their competitors.
in the region. But after a while the economy
Their product is market leader. It sells more than
improved again and my business started to grow.
any other product in that sector.
And now I employ 12 people and we work in
Another factor for success is growth. No company luxury offices in the city centre.
wants to stand still. Successful companies are
always finding new markets and new
Decision page 48
opportunities to grow.

Listening 2 page 45 Ronald Dean

We first considered Golden Valley. This is already
Alan Martin a successful company and very profitable. But the
owners of Golden Valley had no reason to sell.
Well the first step, of course, is to develop a new
They were already so successful that they didn’t
product idea. Many people decide to start a
need any financial help from a larger company.
business because they have a good idea.
We also considered Rocky Farm because they had
But you have to remember that about 80 per cent
such an excellent product. But they only had one
of new business ideas fail. Usually it’s because
product: ice cream. It needed a lot of money and
people don’t understand the market. So the
time before it could develop into a bigger
second step is to conduct market research. Your

166 ■ Audioscripts
business. We wanted to find a firm that could Venture capitalists expect that nine
become market leader in a short time. out of ten ventures won’t make any return. If
So, our decision was to make an offer for Annie’s all goes well, the tenth investment will make
Kitchen. This firm had financial difficulties and enough money to give us a profit overall.
its owner was ready to accept a low offer from us.
Because we are a big company, we were able to Listening 2 page 55
deal with the company’s financial problems. We
paid for a new factory and put money into I John
improving production. So Annie’s Kitchen started People are worried about the amount of garbage
to make a profit. The owner stayed on as the they create. This idea offers people a way to
company’s managing director. This worked out manage garbage. But it’ll be quite expensive! So I
very well. Annie’s Kitchen is now second in the think it’ll probably sell only in the luxury market.
market with a 32 per cent share. We hope that we
Jemima
will soon be number one!
I Maybe at first it will only sell in the luxury
Listening 1 page 53 market. But in the long term, I think the price
may come down. By 2020, the Intelligent Garbage
Can could be in every home!
Christoph Wiesenthai
| Jim
What kinds of new technology does
your firm usually invest in? It’s a great product idea! It will solve all our
Mostly we invest in IT - Information garbage problems! This will definitely be a big
Technology. But about a third of our capital is success!
invested in medical technologies. | 3o
Questsones Is it better to support start-up Sorry - I don’t think so. It’s a toy for people who
companies or older companies? like technology and have too much money to
i; tor Obviously there’s a lot more risk with
spend. It won’t solve garbage problems. I don’t
a start-up than with a company that is already
think it will sell - not in any big numbers.
running. With an older company, you can see
if they have a strong management team and a
good record of success. Decision page 56
When you consider new projects or
new ideas, what do you look for? | Christoph Wiesenthai
We look for new products and new Let’s look at the space travel idea first. It’s true that
technology that will have a large market. If it’s there are people who would love to be space
something people need to have, then lots of
tourists. But how many people will be able to pay
people will buy it. Take a medical product, for
$30,000? There’ll be a very small market for this.
example. We ask what kind of disease it will
And it’s also the riskiest venture of the three. The
treat. If it can treat a disease that is common,
obviously, the product will have a much company will need huge amounts of capital to
larger market. build a spacecraft that is safe. So at the end of it
Many people who look for venture all, there may not be much return on investment.
capital are scientists or engineers. How much OK, let’s look at Fingertip next. This is a great idea.
do they understand about business? One day, this kind of system will be in homes,
of Nowadays, top scientists know a lot offices - everywhere. But at present, you can only
about business. They are very aware of the sell it to luxury hotels and big corporations. So, in
importance of economic factors. the short term, the market will be very small.
Ooesrioner: How long do you usually have to There is also a greater risk here because it’s a new
wait to get a return on investment? start-up.
Christoph: The payback period is usually So, finally, let’s look at Celf Cure. This is
between five and eight years. But in the
something we are very interested in. We know
biotech sector, 15 years is quite normal,
that the technique can be used to treat several
juestione; And - if I can ask you this - what
common diseases. That means that there will
percentage of your investments don’t give you
any return on your investment? definitely be a big demand for this kind of
treatment. There is also less risk investing in this

Audioscripts ■ 167
 business because it’s an existing company so we They considered Swindon because it has excellent
know they have the necessary management skills communications with the rest of Britain and is
to develop the idea. We think this venture will be not too far from Heathrow - a huge international
a big success. That’s why we’ve decided to invest airport. But Swindon is mainly a manufacturing
our capital in Celf Cure. town and doesn’t have other similar businesses in
the service sector. So perhaps it isn’t the right
Listening page 63 business environment for a hotel company.
So they decided that they are going to relocate to
Dacian Murphy Luton. Luton has a growing economy and the
Before setting up an office in another country, airport is attracting airline business and travel
companies to the area. Whiterose may want to
you’ll need to do quite a lot of research. There are
a number of things to consider. work together with some of these companies.
Luton may not be such an attractive place to live
To start with, you want to be sure that the country as Exeter, but it is close to London. The staff could
has a strong economy. And that means low travel from London in half an hour, so maybe it
inflation and a stable currency. If the prospects won’t be necessary to move house. Luton also has
for growth are good, then so much the better. excellent communications with the rest of Britain
Then you need to consider other factors. For and internationally. Staff can fly to many places
example, does the location have a good around the world from their local airport, which
infrastructure - a modern airport, good roads and is a big advantage for a company that is
perhaps shipping facilities if you need them? expanding internationally.
And the third main area to research is the financial
side. How much will it cost to rent office space? Listening 1 page 68
Does the government of the region offer special
encouragement to foreign business such as low Michael: I’m Michael Kohl and I work for
taxation? If the local government has a positive Volkswagen in the design department. I work
attitude to foreign business and the costs are low, on the exterior design for new cars, making
then obviously these are going to be big advantages. models for the design ideas. When I left
school, I applied to do an apprenticeship with
Decision page 66 Volkswagen. I thought it would be a good
company to work for. So I wrote to them to
apply for the scheme. I was one of 6,000
Charles Jerome applicants for only 600 places. After a lot of
There are three key elements in deciding where to tests and interviews, they accepted me. After
locate a new office. The first is the infrastructure three years in the apprenticeship, I went to a
of the area. Do you have good road and rail special college to study design and modelling.
communications? Are you near to an When I got my qualification, Volkswagen gave
international airport? me a permanent job.
The second key element is the living environment. Sanjay: I got my job through personal contacts. I
You need to offer staff an attractive place to live was on a two-year master’s degree course in
where they can find a nice house that’s not too management. A family friend had a job with
Meridian, a management consultancy firm
expensive, and good education for their children.
and she told me about it. I was looking for a
The third element is the business environment. A summer work placement to get experience
place that has a growing economy with other and she recommended me to the managing
successful businesses in the area will provide the director. I learned a lot working there and
best environment for your company. enjoyed it very much. After I finished my
So which of the three towns did Whiterose degree, they decided to hire me. And that’s
choose? Well, they considered Exeter because it where I work now - as a research consultant.
offers a very attractive environment. But it is a
long way from London and head office.
Communications to other parts of Britain are not
so easy and international travel is not as good
from Exeter airport as from other larger airports.

168 ■ Audioscripts
 and the company gave me the chance to move to
Listening 2 page 73 the Human Resources department. I’m now taking
a year out to study for a Human Resources
Barry Hamptcjn qualification. Then I’ll go back to Wide World
Tours to continue my career. Because it’s a big
If you apply for a job in the UK, it may be better company, it offers lots of opportunities!
to write your CV in the way that UK employers
expect. For example, keep it short - don’t write Listening 1 page 76
more than two pages.
Make sure that you put your personal details and
Mario Capelti
qualifications at the top - where you studied and
your exam results. Don’t write your date of birth Perhaps the most effective way to promote
and don’t say if you are married or not. products to a large number of people is to
advertise. There are several different advertising
When you describe your work experience, it’s
media that we can use, for example TV and radio.
essential to say what you learnt from your
There’s also the press - that’s newspapers and
previous jobs. Say what you contributed to the
magazines - and the cinema. And of course, the
job, and what skills you demonstrated.
internet is extremely important now. Advertising
It’s a good idea to write something about yourself is a good way to reach a lot of potential
and any interests or hobbies that you have. And customers - but there are other selling techniques
don’t forget to say which foreign languages you as well.
can speak.
There’s personal selling, for example. This means
Finally, remember to give the contact details of employing sales representatives to make regular
two references - most British employers will sales visits to customers and potential customers.
contact them to find out more about you.
Then there are sales promotions. These include
special offers, for example: ‘Ten per cent reduction
Decision page 74
in price’; or ‘Buy satellite TV and get free
installation’ and discounts that encourage people
Barbara Kingsland to buy.
As a careers adviser, I never say to anyone: you Other examples of sales promotions include
must take this job or that one. It has to be their competitions and free gifts.
decision. We carry out psychological tests that Another method of promotion is public relations.
show what kind of personality people have, what This involves creating news and getting
their strengths and weaknesses are. This helps information about the company or its products in
them to know what kind of work they are suited the press or on TV. For example, when a pop star
to. launches a new album, people write about it in
Kate, for example, likes working with people not the music magazines. And this brings publicity for
machines. The job in the small company may suit the company.
her very well. But one thing to think about is risk. The next method is direct marketing. This includes
Kate could lose her job if there is a downturn in all sales activities where consumers can buy the
the industry. product immediately. An example is direct mail -
She will probably find the market research job a where you send information to potential
bit boring. But if she is really ambitious, it may be customers by post. We can also include TV and
better to take a job with a large company that internet shopping in this category. And then
offers good prospects in the long term. there’s telephone selling, where sales staff
It is important for Kate to think about her long telephone people and try to sell products over the
term plans. That will help her to make the right phone.
decision. And finally, we have sponsorship. A company
Kate Gray pays money to have its name linked to an event
It’s now three years since I decided to join Wide or a person such as a sports personality. The
World Tours. 1 think it was a good decision. I person wears clothing with the name of the
didn’t much like the job of marketing assistant - company on it.
it was a bit boring and routine. But I worked hard

Audioscripts ■ 169
 Unit 9 Listening 2 page 79 Decision page 82

Michio Yano I Nikki Lambert

We know our customers very well, and we At Virgin Mobile, we believe it is very important
decided that a trade fair wasn’t the most effective to have students inside each university, helping us
way to launch our new modem. Instead, we to promote our brand. One of our strategies is to
wanted to create a fun event that our customers recruit two student brand managers at each
could remember for a long time - a party. university. These students carry out promotional
The way we promoted the event was this. We sent work and receive pay for each hour of work. We
several emails to our customers. In the first email, advertise the jobs on our special student website.
we encouraged the customers to visit our website Students can apply online and we select the most
to see a Flash demonstration of the new product. talented applicants through tests and interviews.
Next, we emailed invitations to the launch party. We don’t just accept anyone who shows an
We later sent another email so that they couldn’t interest - it’s important to use standard
possibly forget. The third email included recruitment procedures to select people who have
directions to the event. a real talent for marketing. We also give these
recruits two days of special training in marketing
We chose a big hotel by the beach and we
methods. So this is one strategy. But we also have
arranged special buses to make it easy to attend.
another: a competition which we hold every year.
We organised lots of games and entertainment to
The prize is a house where each winner, and three
make the party really good fun. During the event,
of their friends, can live rent free for a year. We
we used big screen TVs to provide more
information about the product. People could advertise the competition on the internet. But the
watch demonstrations on the TV screens and student brand managers also do a lot to
enjoy the party at the same time. encourage people to enter. The first stage of the
competition is to complete an online personality
The event was a huge success. We planned for 250 test to see how dynamic and creative they are. In
people to come, but 600 people came. Many the second stage, they have to describe an idea for
people said it was the best launch party ever! promoting Virgin Mobile. We then select the best
25 students to go on to the third stage. In this
Listening 3 page 81 stage, the students have to persuade other students
to vote for them to win. This means they have to
How about putting up some posters? promote themselves in some way. For example,
We can put posters up in the store so people they can put up posters, get attention at student
can see them when they come in. events by wearing special clothes, dye their hair
Speaker 2: That’s a good idea! - And why not
red, hold parties, decorate the town in red or
hand out leaflets as well? We can put one in
anything else they can think of. They do these
each bag when a customer buys something.
activities to promote themselves to win the
Speaker 3: Hmm - I like that! And of course, we
need to put details on our website. competition, but of course they are also
Area!-- Perhaps we could collect customers’ promoting the Virgin brand at the same time. And
contact details - their home address or email this is an extra benefit to our marketing
address - then we could send them campaign. We find that this competition attracts a
information about the classes. lot of interest from students who want to become
Speaker 2: Hmm - I’m not sure about that! involved. And this is great for increasing
People won’t want to give their address. familiarity with our brand. We are also offering
You’re right. That could be difficult. I something to students: a lot of fun, and the
think we should just have posters and leaflets. chance to save on some of their living costs at
What about inviting someone from university.
the press to attend the first class? That way we
can get some free publicity!
Speaker 2 and 3: Brilliant!

170 ■ Audioscripts
 Listening 1 page 89 Unit 10 Listening 2 page 91

Callum Taylor Presenter 1

part on a Graph A shows the company share price over the
Price is important to everyone. Companies spend first six months of the year. As you can see, the
a lot of time deciding how to set prices. But they share price has increased from 95 cents in January
often don’t choose the best method of pricing to 105 cents in June.
their products. This can have a huge impact on Presenter 2
profitability. A study of 2,400 companies showed Graph B shows changes in the price of oil during
what happened when they followed one of three the last year. As you can see, the price has
strategies. The first strategy was to reduce costs by fluctuated between 30 and 40 dollars a barrel.
one per cent; the second was to increase the
volume of sales by one per cent; and the third | Presenter 3
was to increase all their prices by one per cent. Graph C shows the average cost of renting an
The companies who reduced their costs improved apartment between 2000 and 2005. As you can
profitability by 2.3 per cent. The companies who see, the cost reached a peak of 150 euros a square
increased their volume of sales also had an metre in 2001. More recently, the cost has fallen.
increase in profitability - of 3.3 per cent. But the j Presenter 4
companies who increased their prices saw the Graph D shows the average cost of travel between
biggest increase, with profits increased by as London and Paris over a five-year period. As you
much as 11 per cent. can see, the cost fell to a low point in 2003. But in
Part two the last year, it has gone up.
So how should companies set the price for a Presenter 5
product? One method is a simple ‘cost-plus’ Graph E shows the rate of inflation over the last
strategy. You calculate what it costs to produce an three years. As you can see, the rate has remained
item and then you add the profit margin you’d steady at 3.5 per cent during this period.
like to have. And that’s your price.
Another method is to find out what your Dilemma page 92
customers are ready to spend on that product.
Then you set the price to match.
And a third way is to look at the competition. Task 1
You see what your competitors are asking for the March
same kind of product and you set your price at It’s March 31st and it’s 6pm. EU Airlines reports
about the same, or lower if you want to be losses over the last three months of 45 million
competitive. euros. The company has debts of 3 billion euros
Pricing is really difficult to get right and and ticket sales are falling. This is partly due to a
companies have to think carefully about the downturn in the world economy, and partly due
different factors. For example, ask: Who are your to competition from low cost airlines. Frank
target customers and is price important for them? Petit, the airline’s CEO, has announced today that
A second question is: What kind of product or the company is planning to cut costs. Four
service are you selling? Because if it’s a quality thousand people will lose their jobs over the
product or a special service that no one else can next year. The share price rose to one euro eighty
offer, then asking a lower price won’t help your in January, but has since fallen, and stands at
sales. Pricing should be part of your plan. You one euro per share today.
shouldn’t develop a product and then say: ‘OK, 3une
now let’s think of a price.’ It’s June 30th and it’s 6pm. EU Airlines reports an
increase in profits over the last three months.
Thanks to a programme of cost cutting, profits for
the quarter reached 63 million euros. However,
the airline’s workforce are planning strikes in
protest against job cuts. These strikes will cause
problems for passengers which could result in a
fall in ticket sales. The share price has risen over

Audioscripts ■ 171
 the last three months and reached a peak of two Part two
euros at the beginning of June. But news of the Interviews. What do you mean by ‘special
planned strikes has pushed the price down again cases’?
and today it stands at one euro sixty per share. hetv Well, for example, if someone is applying
September for insurance, on the application form we ask
It’s September 30th and it’s 6pm. EU Airlines the question: ‘Have you made any previous
reports a big rise in profits over the last three claims in the last four years?’ When someone
months, reaching a total of 125 million euros for has made three claims or more in a four-year
the quarter. Passenger numbers have increased period, we see that person as ‘high risk’ and
substantially to Asia and the Pacific, North and we don’t really want to offer them cover. But
South America, the Middle East and Africa. Only there may be cases where we can review the
numbers within Europe remain low because of situation. For example, a customer who made
competition from low-cost airlines. The company several claims for theft lived in an area of
has solved its employee relations problems and high crime. But perhaps he has now moved to
the strikes planned for the summer did not take a new address in a district with less crime. So
place. The share price has increased over the last we can review his case. Sometimes we agree to
three months and has reached three euros fifty, accept the risk but with special terms and
the highest level for the year so far. conditions. We may quote a higher premium
or offer only limited cover.
Task 2
December Listening 2 page 99
It’s December 31st and it’s 6pm. EU Airlines has
reported a fall in profits over the last three
months, from 125 million euros in the third Irene
quarter to just 65 million for the fourth quarter. The fact is, it’s company policy. We don’t insure
The recent rise in oil prices has put pressure on people with a criminal conviction. He has a
the airlines to increase fares. As a result, criminal conviction, so we can’t offer him
passenger numbers have fallen. And strikes at insurance.
three major airports during a holiday weekend Jane
in November meant that many passengers were I understand your point, but he was convicted 20
not able to fly. The share price has fallen by years ago! He hasn’t done anything wrong since
more than a third in the last quarter and then. Don’t you think we should review the
currently stands at two euros. situation?
Mike
Listening 1 page 95
On the other hand, we don’t know that he hasn’t
done anything wrong. Maybe he simply hasn’t
Part one been caught by the police.
Interviewer: Can you explain how an insurance
Jane
company is structured?
Yes, but it’s also possible that he’s now an honest
Irene: Well, we have three main departments: person. And in that case, our policy is unfair.
life products, commercial insurance and
private insurance. Each department has a Irene
manager who is in charge of the staff and Surely the main point is that he has been
takes care of general administration. Each dishonest. My view is that we shouldn’t take the
department also has clerical staff, who answer risk. He could be dishonest again.
the phone and deal with online applications Mike
and claims. They handle most applications That’s right - you have to consider the risk. In this
and claims. But when there are special cases, case, the risk is too great.
they bring them to the underwriters, who are
experts on the products handled by that
department. When there is a question about
an application for insurance cover, the
underwriters make the decision to accept or
decline the risk.

172 ■ Audioscripts
 Decision page 100 Listening 2 page 107

Carl Herring OT Components. How may I help?

The insurance company’s view was that Jane did Magda Good morning. This is Magda Zawadski
not take reasonable steps to prevent the theft. The from Fortuna in Poland. We recently ordered
problem is to decide what the ‘reasonable steps’ some components and I’m afraid we’ve got a
are. Did Jane act in an unreasonable way? No one problem. We ordered 15 but you sent 50!
told Jane to replace the locks of her car. She Shane: Oh! I’m sorry about that. How many have
reported the theft of her handbag to the police we charged for in the invoice?
and her insurance company - but she was not Magda You charged for 50. And unfortunately,
given any advice about changing the car’s locks. we have paid by automatic payment. So it
So the insurance company couldn’t expect her to means we have paid too much.
know that it was her responsibility. Jane did ie: Yes I see. Well we’ve got two options. I
replace the locks on her house - which costs can either send you a credit note, or I can
about €80. On the other hand, the cost of request the accounts department to refund
replacing the electronic locks on a car is nearly your money. If you are ordering from us
€1,000. It wasn’t reasonable to do this on an old again, it’ll be easier to send you a credit note.
car. So our ruling in this case is that the decision If I arrange a refund, you’ll have to wait three
was unfair and the company should settle the to four weeks before you receive it.
claim. Well, we probably won’t order from you
again for two to three months. So it’s better if
you refund the money.
Listening 1 page 105
Thane: OK. That’s no problem. I’ll arrange that
for you. And I’ll also ask our distributor to
Customer service trainer collect the extra units that you don’t want.
It is very important to be polite and helpful at all Magda: OK, thank you very much.
times, and to see things from the customer’s point Shane: I’m sorry about the mistake. Please accept
of view. our apologies.
If a customer is very angry about a mistake, stay
calm. Don’t get angry yourself. You may think: ‘I Decision page 108
didn’t make the mistake. This isn’t my
responsibility.’ Dealing with customers’ Mandy Dunwoody
complaints often means solving problems that
We had to make some difficult decisions. We
aren’t your fault. The answer is to solve the
decided not to recruit more staff but to try to
problem professionally as part of the job. keep the staff we have and improve staff training.
When the customer explains the problem, listen This was essential because customer feedback told
carefully and repeat to check that you have us that our customer service was poor. So we
understood. Often the customer just wants to increased the training programme for new
express his feelings. If he doesn’t demand any workers from one day to two days. We also
action, you’ll have to suggest a solution. introduced a weekly training session in each
Sometimes you can't do exactly what the store. This has helped to develop service skills
customer would like you to do. In this situation, and to keep staff up-to-date with new
you have to say what you can do. It is essential to information about products.
use the right language. You will give the customer We also increased staff pay levels. We offered a 3
more confidence if you say: ‘I will’; not ‘I might’ per cent pay increase to everybody. But because
or ‘I can’t’. Don’t say: ‘I don’t think we can do we had a problem keeping staff for a long time,
that’, say: ‘I will find out for you’. we offered a 5 per cent increase to staff who
Of course there are times when you just can’t win. stayed more than one year. We also offer bonuses
For example, if it’s a very difficult person who to people who show the most enthusiasm and the
will not cooperate, then you probably won’t find best customer service skills.
a solution. But you’ll know that you have done We are very pleased with the results of our
your best. You have to try to provide your decisions. Our customer service has improved,
customer with what he or she wants. our customers are happy, and more of them come
back to shop in our stores again.

Audioscripts ■ 173
 to reduce every kind of waste - wasted time,
Listening 1 page 112 wasted resources and wasted energy.

Interviewer + Paul Gardner Listening 3 page 117

Is productivity an important concept in your
business? Extract 1
P Yes, it is. When you increase productivity, you I know this isn’t on our agenda today,
reduce costs and increase your profit. And all but could we quickly talk about
businesses are trying to increase profit. holidays?
How have you increased productivity? OK - but we’re running out of time, so
P Mainly by investing in new equipment that can you please keep it short?
uses up-to-date technology and does the work
more efficiently. But experience is also vital. Extract 2
We started in 1986, and we have learnt a lot. Does anyone have any other questions
We’ve improved our methods and learnt how about the schedule?
to solve problems. ‘No’ ‘That’s OK’ ‘Fine’.
What kind of problems? It’s time to finish. Thank you all for
P Well as we’re a chemical plant, it’s technical coming.
problems, mainly. If there’s a problem with Extract 3
the process, it will produce a poor quality OK. Let’s start. We don’t have much time
product which we can’t sell and we lose a lot this morning because the inspectors are
of money. Mistakes can be very expensive! But coming and we must finish by 11 o’clock.
people are the biggest problem - managing So, have you all seen the document I sent
people. you?
Why is that?
P Well, if there’s a lot of work to do, people Decision page 118
don’t always agree to work overtime,
especially if it’s at night. Or people may be
sick and then we are short of staff.
George Mann
We decided to reduce the targets for the
Is it a problem to find good workers?
productivity bonus to make it easier to earn a
P It’s very difficult. So when you’ve found good
bonus. We thought it would make people work
people, you want to keep them. We’ve been
harder and we expected that better productivity
very successful in keeping our staff. Most have
would follow. In fact, the decision was a disaster.
been with us for more than ten years. They
It made things worse, because workers still failed
have a lot of experience and they all work
to meet production targets and their morale fell
well as a team. That’s essential to high
even lower. In the end we had to ask Patrick
productivity - good teamwork!
Massey, the old production manager, to come
back to the company. He was a strong leader
Listening 2 page 115 and very popular. He didn’t want his old job
back so we offered him a position on the board
Gavin Floyd of directors. The workers were happy to see him
My job is to improve productivity by trying to back and morale improved immediately. Roland
maximise the use of resources. In our company, Court decided to leave and Patrick helped to
we use a system called ‘Six Sigma’ which many recruit a new production manager who could do
companies use to improve productivity. The the job efficiently. At last productivity has started
system helps us to create a plan of the production to improve again and we’ve learnt that good
process from raw materials to finished goods. We leadership and good people management are
collect data about each stage, and the system absolutely essential to high productivity.
analyses the data. This may show that we are
wasting time or resources on something that isn’t
essential, so we cut it out. We may cut out part of
the production process, or we may reduce the use
of some materials. We’re trying to save costs on
anything that isn’t absolutely essential to
production or to the product. Six Sigma helps us

174 ■ Audioscripts
 Pronuncer :n Listening 2 :-3ge 125

Example economy economical

imagination imaginative Well, I can only see three solutions.
competition competitive Reprint the brochure, fire the person
accident accidental responsible, or print labels with the correct
innovation innovative number. What do you think of the first idea?
We can’t reprint two million
brochures. The cost would be much too high.
Listening 1 pat 123 If we did that, we would use all our marketing
budget for the next two years!
OK. What about the second idea? Fire
Interviewer 4- Paul Saunders the person responsible?
Part one pea Maybe! But it wouldn’t help.
In what fields of business is creativity It wouldn’t solve the problem.
especially important? And the third idea - to print labels
P Every business. People think that creativity is with the correct telephone number?
only important in marketing, or advertising. That would work. But we’d have to
But it’s just as important in engineering, for stick them on each brochure. It would take a
example. In today’s business world, there’s a long time!
lot of competition so you have to do And it wouldn’t look good. It would
something different - something no one else be obvious that we’d made a mistake.
is doing. What we really want is a good
brochure with no mistakes and no extra cost!
What else could we do?
How can companies be different?
P It’s the people in the company who make the | Part two
difference. Your competitors can copy your OK. Let’s look at this another way.
products, but they can’t copy your people. What if the number was correct?
Are some people more creative than others? But it isn’t correct. What do you mean?
What if we contacted the telephone
The old thinking was that only some people company and asked them to change the
are creative. But everyone can be creative - number?
just in different ways. There are two types of Everyone: Ah!
people. Adaptors are careful and realistic. That could be the solution! Brilliant!
They look after the details. They are important
for making improvements in the day-to-day
Decision page 126
running of the business. For example, they
may find ways to reduce product faults.
Innovators are people who want radical The gold mining company, Goldcorp, has
changes. They like to challenge the normal discovered gold at its Red Lake mine in northern
way of doing things and are happy to take Ontario. The new discovery contains high grade
risks. These people are important to a gold ore and could make Goldcorp the richest
company when things are changing. But gold mine in the world.
they’re not team players and they usually hate CEO Rob McEwen, shocked the industry recently
meetings. So it may be hard for them to work when he held a competition for the world’s
together with the adaptors. geologists to help him find gold. Mr McEwen put
What can managers do to stimulate details of the area’s geology on the internet and
creativity? offered prize money to anyone who could suggest
the best place to dig for gold. More than 1,400
People can only be creative in the right
entries were received from scientists around the
environment. It’s essential for managers to
world. The judges were surprised at the creativity
encourage their staff to make suggestions and
of the competitors, who had never visited the
be ready to try new things. To be a creative
mine and carried out their research using only
leader, you have to take risks and accept the
computer models. The top prize of $105,000 went
possibility of failure.
to a group of geologists from Australia whose

Audioscripts ■ 175
 work led to the new discovery. The results have attention to these factors so that their staff will be
been a spectacular success and the Red Lake mine more productive.
is now producing 504,000 ounces of high grade
gold per year. Listening 3 page 133

Listening 1 page 128

interviewer + candidate

Dilys Breeze Why did you leave your previous job?

Motivation means different things to different Because the pay wasn’t very good, so I decided
people. Some people are motivated by money and to look for something better.
competition; others are motivated by working in
a friendly environment, or being able to have fun. I a
Why did you leave your previous job?
Most people feel motivated when they know they
Because it wasn’t a challenge any more. The
are making a contribution, and doing something
job was the same every day, so there was
useful. People need to receive praise. They want to
nothing new to learn.
feel that others listen to their problems or
suggestions. And most want to develop their skills 3
and learn new things. Why have you applied for this job?
It’s important for managers to stimulate and C2 So that I can learn something new and
encourage their staff to get the best from them. develop my skills.
Staff will be more motivated if they have a 4
challenge, and the work is interesting. But they Why have you decided to change your job?
also need to believe that they can do the job. So 3 The company I work for at the moment is
it’s important for managers to support their staff, very small. That means that the career
listen to their problems and help them feel more prospects aren’t very good.
confident. People only get satisfaction from work 5
if they feel they can do it well. Why have you applied for this job?
; In order to improve my career prospects. This
Listening 2 page 132 is a bigger company, so I think I’ll have more
opportunities.
Clark Morris
Decision page 134
To feel motivated, workers have four kinds of
needs called the four Cs. The first C is connection.
To feel connected to the company, people need to Kok Tan Hiang
understand their role and feel that they are When we moved, we changed our office design.
helping to achieve the company goals. The second We built larger working spaces where people
C is content. Workers need to enjoy the job in could sit together. We only needed work spaces
order to get satisfaction from it. The third C is for two-thirds of our staff, so hot-desking was the
context: the company’s systems and organisation. obvious solution. We also wanted to create a
This can include the IT network, machine more democratic workplace. We wanted better
maintenance, or the pay system. If things don’t communication between people at all levels. .
work smoothly - because the computer system is Was it a good decision? Well, hot-desking was a
out-of-date, for example - workers will soon good solution for us. We already had the
become demotivated because they can’t do a good technology to implement the new working
job. The final C is climate, or company culture. It arrangements. Many of our staff, such as sales
depends on the relationships between and technical teams, like the hot-desking
management and staff. In order to create a good arrangement. They have a dynamic environment
climate, managers need to listen to the staff and to work in and it helps them to be more creative.
respond to their suggestions. They should However, we had to make permanent work spaces
encourage staff to have ideas and use their for people who were dissatisfied with the new
initiative, and support their team when they need arrangement. The lawyers, for example, needed
help. Employees may feel angry or stressed if the permanent space to store books. In the business
climate is poor. So it’s very important to create a world of today, you have to be ready to change.
good climate. Companies should pay close Fortunately, most of our workers adapted easily.

176 ■ Audioscripts