新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书听力.pdf
新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书Unit 1AUnit 1AIve just moved from a company with a very strict hierarchy to a fast-growing software company andits been hard coming to terms with the changes. I mean, dont get me wrong, I enjoy my new job a lotmore. I have a lot more responsibility now and everythings done in project teams and managed byobjectives. The one thing I do miss however , is that now, once a projects running, the teams pretty muchon its own and left to solve any problems by itself. Before, there was always a superior I could turn to forhelp, and to be honest, Id be much happier if that were still the case. Especially when youre starting anew job, having someone to talk to can make things a lot easier .I produce technical documents, you know, users manuals and that sort of thing nothing creative, Imafraid. Our teams responsible for its own work schedules. And as long as everythings finished before themachines shipped, its up to us when we do it. So youd think with e-mail and everything, wed all be ableto work from home or come and go as we please but thats not the case. Unfortunately, its a veryconservative company so everyones still clocking in and out at the same time. I suppose the managershave always worked a routine nine to five and just cant imagine anything else being possible.Im an IT consultant and Im working for a small leisure group on a one-year contract. So Imtravelling around Europe a lot, which I know sounds very glamorous, but its just a case of jetting in,fixing a hotels computer and then jetting out again. It also mean Im on call and work very shall wesay flexible hours, including many weekends. Oh and Im also responsible for the website, which I workon from home. What I miss is support from colleagues, you know, being able to discuss problems orthings like the latest technology with other IT professionals in the same job. So, yes, its definitely thesocial side of my job Id like to improve.Well, Im a temp and Im working as a PA for a law firm in London just now. Its a medium-sized firmthats growth quickly so its organisation is very much like that of a smaller company. OK, I know itsunreasonable to expect a definite job description I mean, if something needs doing, then I thinkwhoevers available should do it. But Im already responsible for managing the diaries andcorrespondence of two senior managers, so when the telephones ringing all day and people keep askingme to photocopy reports or even make them coffee, it just becomes impossible to get anything done.I work for the UK subsidiary of a Japanese company and its very Japanese in terms of the way itsrun. Ive just got a new boss, whos come over from Japan. We seem to be getting on pretty well at themoment he always has time for me and gives me lots of support. The only thing is, I dont really have ahuge say in what I dowhich is all right but sometimes it would be nice to be able to show a bit ofinitiative. Our work processes are totally standardized as fixed routines, which I dont mind. Its just thatI always have to consult him before I can make even the smallest alteration to any job of any sort.新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书Unit 1BUnit 1BI = Interviewer N = NeilI So, Neil, why did BT decide to introduce Options 2000?N Well, we started looking at flexible working back in 1993. And subsequent staffsurveys showed that 96 per cent of our office-based staff wanted to work at hometwo or three days a week. We thought about how we could respond to this andsoon realised that flexible working was very much a win-win-win situation. Its awin for technology, using our own products and practicing what we preach. And ofcourse, it reduces BTs office space and cuts costs. But I think the real driver forchange was accepting that our people wanted to work differently.I Right. And how many of them will actually end up working from home?N Our targets 10,000 by the end of the year .I 10,000!N Yes, thats out of about 55,000 office-based staff.I And what effect has this had on company structure?N Well, the companys been organised around business units for some time now.It used to be very much departmentalised, with work being done in series, youknow, passed from one department to the next. But product life cycles are a lotshorter nowadays for the Internet, say, its less than 6 months even. So peoplecome together for a specific purpose and then go off to join new projects whenthe jobs done.I So, these organisational changes must have had quite an effect on BTs culture.N Well, as I said, weve been developing a project-oriented culture. So, peoplenow are paid for what they actually do and not for sitting at a desk from nine tofive. But the really fundamental change is that weve become a lot morecollaborative, both internally and in our dealings with partners and clients. Andpeople are, of course, now getting used to working on several teams at once,which means they tend to get a lot more variety in their work as well.I Yes. And how about the technology? How do you help your teleworkers copewith it?N Well, people working from home have, I suppose, had to become moreindependent about coping with technology. But our corporate intranet is thelargest in Europe and weve invested a lot of time and money in making suretheres enough on-line support for anyone using it. Oh, and there is some trainingavailable, of course.I And whats been the impact so far?N Well, its difficult to say whether productivitys risen or not. But surveys showthat since people have had access to work 24 hours a day, theyve been working alot longer days. In fact, weve just implemented a new training programme to helpmanagers recognise this and deal with the situation. Because although somepeople might produce their best work under this kind of pressure, its certainly notthe case for everyone.I Was that one of the challenges when implementing the programme?N Yes, as was getting the general concept over. Weve also had to adapt to thediversity of our flexible workers. Its not unusual, say, for 400 of them to be on theintranet at midnight.I Midnight? N Yes. I So, what happens when these people need stationery orwhen their computer crashes?N Weve had to develop 24-hours, 365-day-a-year support services. Id say thatwas probably our toughest challenge, actually.I And how have people adapted to working in these virtual teams?N Well, so far, very well. New teams usually meet at the start of a project. Ofcourse, you can always find out about the other team members on the companyintranet even before you meet them. After the first meeting, most communicationis then done by e-mail, so weve had to work out guidelines on how to use e-mail,so weve had to work out guidelines on how to use e-mail more effectively. At thestart we experienced some difficulties with people circulating far too muchirrelevant information. And, of course, theres always one or two people who resistany form of change whatsoever.I And finally, how do you see the future of the office itself?N Well, I think flexible workings bound to increase but therell always be a placefor the office. Therell always be a need for face-to-face contact because eventeams working remotely still need to get together every now and again to refocus.Being tied to the desk, however , is history. In future, mobile personal informationsystems will have all the tools we need for our jobs. The days of putting bits ofpaper in drawers are definitely numbered, Im afraid.新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书Unit 2AUnit 2AR = Richard K = KatieR Now, Internet stocks. They were going through the roof earlier this year until they ran into their recentdifficulties. So the question is: has the bubble finally burst? Our technology correspondent Katie Johnsonjoins me in the studio. So Katie, first of all, what drove these prices up so high in the first place?K Well, all the hype about the Internet would have attracted some investors looking for a quick profit butI think the real driving force has been the fact that demand has far exceeded a limited supply. There wereonly a handful of Internet share offers last year, so opportunities to jump onto the Internet bandwagonhave been very limited.R And all this is despite the fact theyre far from what youd call a safe investment.K Absolutely, yes.R But what about good old profits? Do they match the performance of the share prices?K Well, this is whats so fascinating. Take A, for example, the Internet bookseller. They have amarket value of $18bn, turnover in excess of $1bn, and yet they havent even reached the break-evenpoint. Apart from a couple of companies, such as Yahoo! And America Online, most of them are a longlong way away from making any kind of profit whatsoever , never mind the huge profits everyones hopingfor.R So why on earth is everyone so keen to invest in them?K Well theyre very trendy, and of course theres always the brand factor, which is another reason.Companies like Yahoo! And America Online now enjoy incredibly high brand awareness. But the realattraction is the tremendous potential for future revenue, particularly from advertising. Yahoo! Alreadyhas 144 million page hits a day and nearly 2,000 advertisers. And with Internet usage expected to doublewithin five years, advertising spending is bound to increase.R But then how do analysts value these companies?K Well, its not easy. They have few assets in the traditional sense and they all show phenomenal growthin terms of turnover, so analysts are having to rely on alternative yardsticks to compare them.R Such as?K Such as things like audience reach. Lycos, another search engine like Yahoo!, saw its shares jump bymore than a third recently when figures came out saying it reached 45 per cent of all home Internetusers.R So, lets turn to the recent collapse in these share prices. Has the bubble finally burst?K Well, we were due a sell-off, so its not surprising that shareholders took advantage of the recent sharprises. But I think whats really depressed prices is the flood of Internet companies that have floatedrecently and saturated the market with their hares. It seems that supply and demand are now levelingout. In fact, several companies have even seen their shares slide below the offer price. So, yes,enthusiasm does seem to be cooling.R Well, it seems to me that anyone investing in Internet shares is in for a bit of a rollercoaster ride. So justwhy I the market so volatile?K Well, its a very young market, dont forget. And many companies have been listed for only a couple ofmonths. Also, a lot of people who invest in these stocks actually use the Internet to trade on-line. Withoutthe brokers commission, they can afford to buy in and out of stocks several times a day. This makes themarket very sensitive to any breaking news. And I think its this responsiveness which makes it so volatile.R So, Katie, the big question. Whats the market going to do next?K Well, Richard, thats the million dollar question, isnt it? Some of the prices being paid do reflect thevalue of these companies so I cant really see prices falling much more. And although confidence willreturn, enthusiasm is cooling so dont expect to see prices soaring in the near future.R So how do you see the future for companies in this sector?K Well, I think the sectors going to see lots of consolidation activity as the bigger players look to buytalent and market share. Lycos, for example, has just acquired HotBot, one of its rivals. Well also see oneor two large established non-Internet companies looking to enter the market. The giant German publisherBertelsmann, for example, has just entered into a joint venture with US bookseller Barnes and Noble tochallenge Amazons dominance on the Net. And if the Internet continues to grow like it is, then a few ofthese companies are bound to see substantial returns on their investments.新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书新编剑桥商务英语高级学生用书Unit 2BUnit 2BGood afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Im Steve Brown from the Zeneca Public Affairs Department.Im here today to tell you a little bit more about the merger between Zeneca and the Swedishpharmaceuticals company Astra. So, first of all, the boards of Astra and Zeneca have announced thatthere is to be an all-share merger of the two companies. The new company will be called AstraZeneca. Illbegin by going through the rationale for the merger and listing some of its benefits. Then Ill go on to givesome details about the new board and talk about the financial effects of the merger. And finally, Ill give abrief summary of the terms, including details about dividends and so on.The merger is a natural step for both partners as they both share the same science-based culture aswell as a common vision concerning the future of the industry. The benefits of this move are many. Tobegin with, the merged group will have an enhanced ability to create long-term growth and increasedvalue for its shareholders. Furthermore, itll be able to deliver the full potential of its existing and futureproducts through the joint strength and worldwide presence of its global sales and marketing operations.In fact, based on the joint pharmaceutical sales for last year , the AstraZeneca group will be the thirdlargest pharmaceutical company in the world.The combined strength of the two R&D functions will also ensure an excellent basis forinnovation-led growth. With a combined R&D spend of nearly $2bn, AstraZeneca will one of the largestR&D organizations in the world, which will mean that the company will also be of great interest toacademic institutions and biotech companies seeking partners for their research programmes.At a strategic level, management is hoping that the merger will create sizeable operationalefficiencies by restructuring areas of duplication. It has been calculated that synergies resulting from themerger could lead to cost reductions of over a billion dollars within the next three years. Although thissounds like a somewhat optimistic figure, we are quite confident that it can be achieved throughstreamlining the workforce, particularly in areas like administration and a restructuring of the two salesoperations.Moving on to the board now, the board of AstraZeneca will be drawn equally from the twocompanies, with Tom McKillop, the Chief Executive, running the company along with his executive team.The board will be headed by Percy Barnevik, the non-executive Chairman, whose job it will be to checkthat strategy and policy are periodically reviewed and agreement is maintained. The two deputyChairmen, Sir David Barnes and Hakan Mogren, both have extensive experience of the pharmaceuticalindustry and business in general. They will be available to advise and support the Chief Executive asnecessary.新编剑桥商务英语中级学生用书新编剑桥商务英语中级学生用书 Unit3BUnit3BCash FlowCash FlowB:so,steve,how s the cash flow situation ?any better?St:not really,no.the more we sell ,the less cash we seem to have.B:yes,I know.its called over-trading.youre going to have to figure our a quickerway of turning those sales into cash.St:but now ,Ba
