3-5单元听力文本

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3.1 (I = Interviewer, BT = Bruno Tagliaferri)

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Bruno Tagliaferri, Triumph has been very successful in relaunching the

company and increasing its sales. What are the reasons for its success?

BT Well, I think there are a number of reasons. Firstly, I think Triumph has a very strong brand name. Erm, 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.

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3.2 (I = Interviewer, BT = Bruno Tagliaferri)

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

BT 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?

BT 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 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.

Q 3.3 (MR = Marta Rodriguez)

MR 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.

Let me add a few figures. We have an annual turnover of about C260 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?

r4 Great ideas

D 4.1

jreat ideas are generated in different ways. Sometimes an dea may simply be when a company exploits an opportunity o extend the product range, to offer more choice to existing ustomers. Or a great idea could allow a company to enter a narket which was closed to it before.

Companies which are prepared to spend a lot on R&D may nake a breakthrough by having an original idea for a product vhich others later copy, for example Sony and the Walkman.

)n the other hand, some products are developed in response 3 customer research. They come from customer ideas. These roducts meet a real need. Or the product does something imilar to another product, but faster, so it saves time. Some eople will buy new products because the product enhances leir status - makes them feel more important. Other people ill buy any 'green' product which reduces waste or protects le environment, even if it is more expensive.

If an idea is really good - perhaps the product fills a gap in the

market - it may even win an award for innovation.

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4.2 (I = Interviewer, TC = Tim Cook)

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Dr Cook, please describe some of the new ideas which your company has

developed.

TC Well, Isis Innovation is a company owned by the

University of Oxford, and our job is to take the ideas that have developed in the university's research laboratories and help the researchers turn them into commercial opportunities, and we do this by either negotiating licences or by helping researchers to start new companies. Some of the companies that we've recently started, for example, there's one company which uses technology developed in the engineering department to make car bodies more quickly and therefore more economically. Another company we've started makes houses for bees to help people who, er, grow fruit in orchards to grow fruit more efficiently because the bees help the trees be more productive. A third idea we've had is, we've started a company for archaeologists which trains archaeologists in the use of computer techniques, but also sells them the software that they need to do this.

Q 4.3 (I = Interviewer, TC = Tim Cook)

I And, what stages are involved in developing an idea and bringing it to market?

TC To build a company on university science, you have to bring together a

number of components. The first thing you need is a business plan, which we help the researchers to write. We can then use this business plan to raise the investment - the cash that you need to start the business. This comes from private investors who are rich individuals, usually who've made money from running their own businesses. You also need people to manage the new company and we have a database of these people and introduce them to the scientists.

Q 4.4 (I = Inge, Ka = Katharina, Ke = Kenneth, N = Nadia, J = Julia)

I Right, can we start, please? The main aim of the meeting is to decide the date of the launch. After that, we'll talk about our marketing strategy and decide which sales outlets we should target. OK, when are we going to launch the goggles? Katharina, what do you think? Should it be early next year or should we wait until the summer?

Ka I'm in favour of February or March. There's a gap in the market for our products. Why wait any longer? The goggles are technically advanced - let's just cash in on that.

I Thanks, Katharina. OK, let's hear a few more views. Kenneth, what's your opinion?

Ke Mmm, I don't know about February. It's a bit early in the year. I suggest we launch in May or June. People go on holiday then. It's a peak period for buying goggles.

I Thanks, Kenneth. Nadia, what's your view? You're a keen swimmer, I know.

N In my opinion, February's the best time. We could promote them in swimming pools and opticians. The price should be high. I'd say, at least £50.

Ka Hold on a minute. I thought we were talking about the launch date, not about promotion or price.

I You're right, Katharina. Let's get back to the point. OK everyone, I think on balance we agree we prefer the earlier date. Let's move on now to marketing. Julia, which outlets do you think we should target?

J I think we should start with the specialist stores. That's where most swimmers buy their goggles.

strong competition.

What do you mean by specialist stores, Julia? Are you thinking of sports goods outlets, you know, stores which only sell sports equipment?

J Exactly. They should be our main target.

5 Stress

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5.1 (I = Interviewer, CC = Cary Cooper)

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Professor Cooper, what are the major causes of stress at work today?

CC I think the major causes of stress at work today are firstly, increasing job insecurity, and what I mean by that is that many people these days feel they could lose their jobs, they don't feel their jobs are safe. They feel they may not have a job next month or next year. Secondly, working long hours is becoming common across the whole of Europe. There are problems with how much time people are spending at work compared to the time they spend at home - what is called the work-life balance, and how to get this balance right. In many countries, both in Europe and around the world, the typical family is a working family, with both members working, which causes problems for those families. So, working people really are experiencing problems which maybe 40 or 50 years ago they didn't have.

CJ 5.2 (I = Interviewer, CC = Cary Cooper)

I And how can people cope successfully with stress?

CC For people to manage stress successfully, they first have to find out the main reason for it. For example, are they stressed because the company they work for has a habit of working long hours which is causing problems in their personal life? Or is it that they have a boss who gives them orders all the time, a boss who checks their work all the time and doesn't give them freedom or independence to organise their own work? Or is it that they are a woman and they work for a company which makes it difficult for women to make progress in their career, or to get promoted because the company is not flexible in its working arrangements?

Each of these problems needs a different solution, so it's important for people to find out what their particular problem is and then once they've done this to think about the possible solutions.

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5.3 (I = Interviewer, CC = Cary Cooper)

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Do you think that men and women deal with stress differently?

CC In my opinion men and women do deal with stress in different ways. Women are more flexible, and are able to change the way they behave and do things when they're in new situations which they have to deal with. They also seem to cope with the pressures better than men. For example, now there are many working women around the world, you find that women have a double pressure on them. Often they have to look after children, work in the home - do the cooking and cleaning - as well as work in a paying job. So, women have more pressure than men. But, if you look at the number of people who become ill from stress, you find that the number of women is less than men. This is because women are able to manage stress better than men. Women have a number of strategies to do this. What are these strategies? Well, they have the ability to express emotion, which men find difficult to do. Also, they are able to seek social help when they're in trouble - to go to people and talk about their problems. And in general women don't pretend that problems don't exist.

O 5.4 (V = Vincent, M = Monica, T = Tanya)

V

I think we should do a lot more to improve our staff's health and fitness.

What do you think, Monica?

M I agree. There are all sorts of things we could do to help staff to become more healthy and stay healthy. For one thing, we could offer them a free medical checkup every year.

V

Right. That's a good idea. A lot of firms do that. And how about having a

no-smoking policy in the staff restaurant? What do you think about that, Tanya?

T Mm, I don't think I like the idea very much. It wouldn't be good for morale. A lot of our staff smoke - they'd be against it, I'm sure of that. I think we should improve the food. A lot of the dishes aren't healthy - there's far too much fatty food, not enough fish, fruit and vegetables.

V

True. We could change the menus and offer healthier meals. I like that idea.

M What about setting up a counselling service, Vincent? Some staff are under a lot of stress. It affects their work and they need professional help.

V

I don't know, Monica. It'd be very expensive to set up a service like that.

Anyway, we have a company doctor. That's her job, isn't it?

Ci> 5.5 (V = Vincent, T = Tanya, M = Monica)

V

I've got another suggestion. We could talk to the manager of our local

sports centre and arrange a company membership. What do you think, Tanya?

T Mm, I don't know. It sounds interesting, but it could be very expensive. A group fee for all our staff would probably cost a fortune.

V

What's your opinion, Monica?

M I think you're right, Tanya. It'd cost a lot and I'm not sure how many staff would actually use the centre. Some people say it hasn't got many facilities.

V

I can't agree with you there. It's got a very good pool and sauna. If we could

negotiate a low membership fee, it might be worth considering, surely.

T Yes, it's worth checking out, I suppose. A lot of staff might enjoy having a swim at lunchtime or after work. And a sauna is very relaxing, I must admit.

M Maybe, but there are so many other things we could do. Things which are less expensive, but they'd improve people's health just as much. Let me tell you about a few ideas I have ...