Discuss

How are companies affected by economic recession and boom? How do they respond to sudden rises and falls in demand?

To what extent does your company influence or follow the market? Have you ever been involved in a trade war?

Word Grammar 2

Complete the following by using the correct form of the verbs below. Use each verb once only. Not all of them appeared in the article.

outsell, outclass, outbid, outnumber, outstrip, outmaneuver, outperform, outrank

1. In the West cut diamonds__________________ cars.

2. Sales may be up, but are we actually ______________our main competitors? That’s what I want to know.

3. Both companies wanted to buy us out, but in the end the Saudis __________________the Americans.

4. When it came to actually manufacturing the product, we were totally _________________by the Koreans.

5. World supply of diamonds has consistently __________________demand.

6. As a supplier and distributor of diamonds De Beers__________________ all other companies.

7. We lost the negotiation because we were completely __________________ in the final stages.

8. In terms of ease of use, speed and efficiency, it __________________ all similar products.

What is the meaning of the prefix out- in the verbs above?

Word Partnerships

Now match the following words and phrases to make complete expressions from the article.

1. world	cashflow	cartel	Example: world diamond supply
2. world’s	diamond	of stocks
3. chronic	accumulation	problems
4. massive	greatest	supply
5. keep	surplus	artificially high
6. saturate	prices	production
7. cut	a huge	overnight
8. contain	the market	surplus
9. force	surplus gems	of a company
10. dump	control	supply
11. seize	excess	down
12. soak up	prices	onto the market

Discuss

Is there really such a thing as a free market? How might the activities of monopolies and cartels be restricted? Is the market you operate in dominated by one or two big companies?

Fluency work Group Discussion

Work with a partner. Prepare to answer questions on the state of the market you operate in and the current market position of the company you work for.

	MY COMPANY	MY PARTNER’S CO.
Name of the company
Product/Service
Approx. size of world market
Main customers
Approx. market share
Main competitors
General market trend
Reasons for trend