Арининой И. гр.1480

Ответы на зачет по английскому языку

Unit 1.

1. How many different ways of organizing or structuring a company can you think of? Think about departments, products and markets.

There are several ways a company can organise their business; depending on their size and needs they can opt for a combination of all of them or stick to just one. These are some of the possible types of structures; functional, along the product line, geographical and the matrix.

2. If you work for a company or organization, how would you describe the company structure?

I would describe it a mix of some of them; firstly along the product line as the company is divided in to several departments and then geographical as well depending on the country of operation.

3. Do you think people from certain cultures would favour one kind of organizational structure over another? Can you think of some examples and give some reasons.

Certainly that is the case, especially with larger organisations. For example, Microsoft is structured along their product line which fits them well, as each business unit controls themselves locally thus maximising the reaction time to any challenges.

Unit 2.

1. Can there be such a thing as a 'world car'? Or should cars be designed to suit the tastes of different markets? What are the financial and marketing implications?

In order to take full advantage of different markets, it is important to understand the needs and demands of each market individually. Regional variations play a role on what is required and thus investing and understanding each market will significantly reduce the financial cost for the company as production would be more specific to the markets needs rather than standardising a product that will not cater for each market.

2. Which do you think is better for an international company-strong central control of international operations or decentralized decision-making? Does it depend on the business the company is in?

Ultimately it does depend on each company, however, if a company wants to operate on a global scale it is important to decentraliizeit's operations in order to cater for the individual and regional needs of the market it operates in.

Unit 3.

1. What criteria do you think global companies use when they choose the location of their manufacturing operations around the world? Some examples are labour costs, education level of the local workforce, and political stability. Can you think of others?

Others could choose based on the location to be closer to their customer base. For example, London in the UK is popular as its in the middle of the world in a way, between West and East, which is suitable for many international organisations.

2. It has become increasingly common for organizations to subcontract some aspects of their activity to outside companies. Typical examples are catering (the company restaurant) or security (protecting the buildings). What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of subcontracting work in this way?

The main advantages of subcontracting is that you no longer need to take care of it yourself, you have given the task to those who who are best at it and will provide the best work. As well as once you no longer need the services there is no need to fire or let go of people as it was subcontracted.

3. What are the main benefits for a company that is listed on the stock exchange?

The main advantages are that the company can raise capital by issuing new shares as well as use the same shares as a payment when buying or taking over another business.

4. Most big international companies are listed on the stock market. But Lego is not. What do you think the reasons are?

The reason could be that by being listed on the stock market you have to give up some share of your company to the public, it can be anyone, someone can buy a huge share and thus demand to be on the board of the company.

5. What are the arguments for and against outsourcing the production?

The arguments for:

-frees from mundane business activities so you're able to better focus on your core competencies;

-offers a variety of specialized skills that you otherwise may not want to hire a full-time employee for, avoiding fixed costs;

-makes innovation possible without a major cash injection;

-allows you access to up-to-date technologies, infrastructure, workflows and processes (e.g. software) without the usual costs affixed to purchasing them;

-creates an environment where the risks are shared between you and the contractor;

-places very minimal staffing responsibilities on your company;

-enables you to scale your business incrementally without a large capital infusion

The arguments against:

-who did what and when: this is called operational memory loss where nobody remembers where that file is, who's accountable for it and when it was accomplished;

-transfer and third-party mishandling of confidential or proprietary information;

-communication challenges resulting either from not being in the same building or especially, if you're outsourcing offshore, language barriers;

-higher turnover rates. Outsourced tasks do tend to be monotonous (admin tasks, for example) and your virtual staff might find it difficult to keep their enthusiasm up