单选题Globalsourcinghasbecomesowidespreadbecauseoftheincreasing______.

单选题What does the evidence show in the second paragraph?

单选题An extra onetime payment at the end of the period in which performance is measured as a ______

单选题Over the past several years, I have interviewed dozens of senior executives of Fortune 1,000 companies and asked two questions: "Is there information that would help you run your company far better if you had it in real time, and, if m, what is it?" Without exception, they answered yes to the first question, then ticked off the one to three items they wanted. Dave Dorman at AT&T said he wanted real-time customer transaction information, such as contract renewals and cancellations. Rick Wagoner at GM wanted real-time progress reports on new vehicle development. Others on his senior team wanted certain narrowly defined data on product quality and productivity. Dick Notebaert at Qwest wanted customer satisfaction numbers. The CEO of a well-known services business wished he had real- time transaction volume data on a limited group of his best customers, while the CEO of an events business wanted to see minute-by-minute tracking of how much show-floor space has been sold.Oddly, though, very few of the executives I've spoken with receive the real-time information they say they could use (notable exceptions include some of the executives mentioned above, who now get their data). Why aren't they getting it? Clearly, these managers could direct corporate resources toward acquiring any data sets they wanted. The answer is that neither they, nor those who support them, are asking the fight questions. Although they agree, when prompted, that they need real-time information, in practice their reflex is to respond to business events after the fact rather than detect them as they unfold. Instead of asking, "How can we react faster?" they should be asking, "What real-time information will allow us to detect critical events the instant they occur?"The danger in asking the latter question, of course, is that the executive may quickly drown in a torrent of data. The solution is to carefully identify the precise and minimum information that's required — only those data that would cause the executive to change a judgment or a course of action (what accountants would call "material" information). Examples might include real-time sales results, new customer sign ups, shifts in petroleum prices, or any information that, if instantly available, would keep a CEO from getting in trouble with the board. My research suggests, and interviews with CEOs confirm, that one needs to receive only a very small amount of information in real time to avoid trouble or exploit an opportunity.Here's an example. In eBay's early days, the company often received complaints about offensive items that were put up for auction, especially those tied to tragic news events. Maynard Webb, eBay's chief operating officer, told me that, in response, a team was created to conduct real-time news monitoring and to warn executives when problem items appeared. This real-tree detection and rapid response strategy have paid off in many instances, most notably after the collapse of the World Trade Center and the shuffle Columbia disaster. Webb and other senior executives were notified immediately when offensive items appeared (World Trade Center rubble showed up just 20 minutes after the first tower fell), and they had them removed before eBay's 1range could be harmed.If you're not tracking real-time information already, start. Don't assume that it's too granular to merit your attention, that me else in the company is already monitoring it, or that it simply doesn't exist. Identify what it is that you need. Then ask for it.

单选题Personal SellingPersonal selling is a process of informing potential buyers about and persuading them to purchase a product. It is the most flexible of all promotional methods because it allows marketers to communicate specific information that might trigger a purchase. Of all the promotional activities, only personal selling can zero in on a prospect and attempt to persuade the prospect to make a purchase. Although personal selling has a lot of advantages, it is one of the most costly forms of promotion. A sales mil on an industrial customers in the U.S. can cost as much as $ 200or $ 300. Many products require personal selling in order for the company to achieve sales results. A company must employ effective salespeople to describe a product's advantages and benefits to compete with the sales forces of competing firms. Professional salespeople are professional communicators. They know their companies, their products, competitors, customers, and themselves. Many factors affect a marketer's selection of the type of salesperson to employ. The product's complexity, the type of market, and the general nature of distribution in a particular industry are all important considerations. Three distinct salespersons are order takers, creative salespersons, and support salespersons.Order takers are salespeople who execute sales for customers who have already decided to buy the product from a particular organization. Their major role is to make sure that suppliers are adequate and there are no problems in the purchase. Inside order takers are located in sales offices and receive orders by mail or telephone. Outside order takers many engage in some important sales functions for the corn- party by encouraging customers to increase the size o[ their orders or reminding them to purchase certain products. In many firms, order takers generate the majority of sales.Creative salespersons are involved in informing and persuading a prospect to buy a product. The creative salesperson tries to increase the firm's sales by finding new customers and encouraging old customers to purchase. A key role of the creative salesperson is to find new prospects and convert them into customers. Products such as automobiles, insurance, furniture, and appliances require the skill of creative salespeople to maintain sales levels.Support salespersons facilitate and assist in the selling function but usually do not take orders. They are used in markets where educating the customer, building good will, and providing service are important for supporting the overall sales volume of the company. Technical salespersons, for example, are support salespersons who provide engineering and other types of technical assistance. They help with product application, specific system design, and provide technical information about how a product will function best under particular environments or situations. Technical salespersons are often used for computers, machinery and equipment, and steel and chemicals.Prospecting. The first step in personal selling is to identify potential buyers of the product that is being sold. This can be done by examining directories or trade lists that identify people who use various types of products. The salesperson concentrates his or her efforts on prospects who have needs and wants, financial ability, and authority to purchase the product.Approaching. The salesperson finds and analyzes information about prospects' needs and desires for products. The information helps the .salesperson approach the potential customer. There are different types of approaches. Using a referral, the salesperson explains to the prospect that an acquaintance or some other person has indicated that the prospect might be interested in the product. Using cold canvassing, the salesperson calls on potential customers without any prior notice or referral.Presenting. After making the approach, the salesperson must make a presentation to get the prospect's attention and to persuade the prospect to buy the product. In making the presentation, it is important for the salesperson to use stimulating methods. Demonstrating the product and using visual aids such as a videotape or slides can assist greatly in the presentation. The salesperson should demonstrate what the product can do and the benefits associated with it.Handling objections. Objections are reasons mentioned by the prospect for not buying the product. One of the best ways for a salesperson to handle an objection is to try to anticipate and counter it before it is expressed. Doing this is risky, however, because the salesperson may bring up an objection that the prospect had not thought of. At any rate, objections should be dealt with immediately when they arise. A good salesperson does not dodge objections but find out what the objections are and tries to deal with them. A successful sale may depend on how well the salesperson handles objections. Closing. Closing is asking the prospect to buy the product. It is an important step in personal selling because a customer may actually be reluctant to volunteer to purchase a product. Prospects usually need some encouragement or persuasion to make a purchase decision. This is the salesperson's last spurt and determines whether the sale will be consummated. A trial close involves asking questions that assume the customer is going to buy the product, its purpose is to get answers to identify objections. The trial close indicates what decision is going to be made. Trial closing questions relate to matters such as delivery dates and model colors.Following up. A good salesperson follows up on a successful sale to make sure the customer is satisfied with the purchase. The salesperson may check to see whether the product was delivered on time and whether the buyer got exactly what he or she wanted. Waiters and waitresses often ask "How was your dinner?" This is a follow-up question to make sure that customers are leaving satisfied. Only a satisfied customer will return; therefore, the follow-up is necessary for the salesperson to have repeat business. The follow-up helps develop rapport with the buyer and ensure an ongoing relationship.

单选题{{B}}How to approach Reading Test Part Four{{/B}}· This part of the Reading Test tests your vocabulary· Read the whole text quickly to find out what it is about. As you read, try to predict the words that might fill the gaps.· Look at the four possible answers for each gap and cross out any obviously incorrect words.· Then read both before and after each gap to decide which word should go in it. The word needs to fit both the meaning and the grammar· After completing all the gaps, read the whole text again to check your answers.· Read the article on the opposite page about how companies can attract and retain good quality staff.· Choose the best word from below to fill each gap.· For each question 21 - 30, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. {{B}}Finding and keeping tomorrow's high-fliers{{/B}} To gain competitive advantage, organisations need to attract and retain potential high-performers who can develop and implement winning strategies. They need people with a genius for{{U}} (21) {{/U}}things done quickly and effectively, which includes completing projects on time, and inspiring and leading colleagues. In{{U}} (22) {{/U}}they need the ability to ensure a company's success. Such people can{{U}} (23) {{/U}}their organisations to great heights. However, many of those who stand{{U}} (24) {{/U}}because of their talent leave because their employers are{{U}} (25) {{/U}}to their agendas. In fact, many organisations need a clearer idea of what motivates such people. Money is not particularly effective as a motivator, because high - performers tend to{{U}} (26) {{/U}}a good financial package for granted. Empowerment is particularly significant for new talent, however, and wise employers{{U}} (27) {{/U}}high - performers the opportunity to feel that they 'own' a project. The challenge of the work is another essential motivator for high-fliers, who need to feel that their employer has a strong{{U}} (28) {{/U}}of how the job contributes to their career development. High - performers should also have a platform for self- development, to enable them to{{U}} (29) {{/U}}their skills. Above all, high - performers want to feel that the organisation they work for{{U}} (30) {{/U}}them as special. If they find that it is not interested in them as people but only as high-performing commodities, it will be hardly surprising if their loyalty is minimal. An organisation which bears ail this in mind is in a better position to keep its high-fliers, both present and future.

单选题A manufacturer of sports shoes starts selling consumer electronics. A soft drink lends its name to a range of urban clothing. What's going on? In simpler times, you knew where you were with brands. One brand name meant good-quality sports shoes, another a soft drink. No confusion. Today, however, big companies try to redefine brands as not so much a product, more a way of life, and stretch them into new areas. In the early years of the consumer society, a brand name on a box simply identified what was inside. People were looking for products that would improve their quality of life, and chose brands most likely to achieve that purpose. But as people in industrialized nations became more affluent and fulfilled their basic needs, brands acquired other attributes. The functionality of the product was still important, but people also started using brands to say something about themselves, for example, choosing a brand of cosmetics which would suggest that they were sophisticated jet-setters. Now, we have entered a third age of branding, in which so many companies are making roughly the same product at roughly the same price that functionality rarely succeeds as a point of differentiation. Instead, companies are trying to make their brands stand out by emphasizing their emotional aspects, hoping consumers will identify with the set of values the brand represents. One disadvantage of a product-based brand is that if the product goes out of fashion, the brand goes with it. This is a serious concern for manufacturers of breakfast cereals, who are struggling to counter weak demand for the products that bear their names. So far, their marketing efforts seem to be having little effect. The advantage for emotional brands is that companies can transfer their brand strength into other areas, increasing revenues and reducing their exposure to the lifespan of a single product. The elasticity of brands seems to be related to their position on a spectrum ranging from those rooted in solid, tangible assets to those with highly intangible, emotional qualities. At the one end, you have train companies that tend to associate themselves with infrastructure. And their ability to get you from A to B, and at the other end would be a leisure brand that positions itself on dreams and making people have fun. It is the latter which has the maximum potential for stretch. But even emotional brands have a limit to their elasticity. The merchandise has to be consistent with the brand promise. Just to sell merchandise with your logo on it is a short-term, mistaken idea. From this viewpoint, the decision to move from sports shoes into consumer electronics makes sense. Most items in the range, such as the two-way radio for hikers, are sports-focused, even though the products may be adopted as fashion accessories, and the sports shoe customers will probably snap them up. When the move was made from soft drinks into clothing, however, it left the branding consultants cold. It was a difficult mental leap into clothing from the drink so closely associated with that particular brand name. On the other hand, the emotional attributes that youngsters seem to find appealing in the drink, like its heritage and global appeal, are fashionable at the moment, and in fact response to the clothes with the same name has been overwhelming. Maybe this just shows that an inspired move - and by all accounts a snap decision -sometimes pays off against the odds, leaving the manufacturer laughing all the way to the bank.

单选题How to get to the top Marketing used to be the route to the chief executive's chair，but the world has changed．Now，says Monika Hamori．professor of human resources at Instituto de Empresa in Madrid，it is finance chiefs who are most likely to get the top job，though experience in opera-tions-running parts of the companyis also essential．CFO Magazine found in 2005 that onefifth of chief ex-ecutives in America were former chief financiaI officers，almost double the share of a decade earlier．The importance of quarterly financial reporting，and closer scrutiny since the imposition of the Sarbanesoxley corporategovernance act，have put CFOs in the limelightand given them the chance to shine． Another factor in reaching the top is whether you stay with the company you joined as a youngster．Ms．Hamori's research looked at companies in the SP 500 and the FTSEurofirst 300．She finds that‘lifers’get to the top in 22 years in America and 24 years in Europe：‘Hoppers’who jump between four or more companies，by contrast，take at least 26 years on average to become chief executives．Insiders get promotions that reflect their potential，because their bosses have enough information to be reasonably confident about their ability．When executives switch from one company to another，however，they tend to move less far up the hierarchy，the researchers found． The time taken to reach the top is falling．The average time from first job to chief executive fell from 28 years in 1980 to 24 in 2001．Successful executives are spending less time than they used to in each intermediate joban average of four yearsand they fill five posts on the way up．down from six．One reason for this acceleration is that company hierarchies are flatter than they used to be．Another important shift is the advent of female chief executives． 1n 2001 women accounted for 11%of bosses at leading American companies．ac-cording to the Hamori/Cappelli survey；in the early 1980s there were none． America is usually regarded as the home of raw capitalism．with youthful managers hopping from firm to firm and pushing their way to the top．But the HamorL/Cappelli study and another by Booz Company，a consultancy，show that Europe is a more dynamic and harsher environ-menl than America or Japan for chief executives．For a start，European chief executives are younger，with an average age of 54．compared with over 56 in America．The Hamor/Cappelli study shows that 26%of American bos-ses were lifers，compared with only 18%in Europe． The Europeans also have a harder time once they get to the top.Booz ＆ Company's annual survey of chiefexecutive succession shows that 17.6%of European bosses moved on last year．compared with 15%of Americans and 10%of Japanese．Chief executives．the survey found，last longer in America：the average tenure over the past decade was just over nine years．But in Europe the average tenure over the same period was less than seven years． Moreover．a whopping 37%of changes at the top in Europe were more or less firings，according to Booz，compared with only 27%in America and 12%in Japan．Booz puts this down to the more recent tightening of corporate governance in Europe,Another Booz finding is common to both sides of the Atlantic：looking back over recent years，board disputes and power struggles lie behind a third of chiefexecutive firings．In short，shareholder activism is making its presence felt，putting pressure on bosses to perform．

单选题The Role of Contracts Each of us enters into many contracts every day without giving the matter any thought. On the way to work, you stop at a newsstand and buy a newspaper and a pack of gum. You also go into a dinner and buy a cup of coffee and a doughnut. Afterwards, you stop at a discount ticket counter and purchase two tickets to a Broadway show. Finally, you arrive at the subway station and buy a token. In each of these examples, a contract was made. In each case, there was a valid (21) and acceptance, consideration, mutual assent, and legality. No documents were (22) and no contract (23) took place, yet (24) contracts were formed giving each party certain rights and imposing on each some responsibilities as well. Most contracts are (25) completed without a problem and without the interested parties giving the matter much thought. Problems arise when parties to a contract (26) to live up to their agreements or misunderstand what it is they agreed to do. The law of contracts is called upon to (27). the dispute between the parities in accordance with established rules of law that determine each party's rights and (28) under a valid contract. Parties can avoid many misunderstandings and disagreements between contracting parties, as well as (29) time-consuming litigation, if they have a basic (30) of the law of contracts.

单选题A complaint Is a GiftAustralians call the British "whinging Pores" because they grumble so much. But a new study suggests that Brits should whinge more, not less.A team led by Chris Voss of the London Business School found that service quality in Britain is typically worse than in America. One mason is that British customers take less about bad service than hard-to-please Americans do.The failure to grouse is pervasive. Hunter Hansen, an American who runs the Marriott hotel in London's Grosvenor Square, notes that a British would (21) a fuss only about a significant problem and even then, would do so in a roundabout way. Americans are (22) of even small mistakes.The result, Mr. Voss finds, is that Brits suffer. But so do companies in Britain's service industries: they do not (23) so much unsolicited feedback, and thus lose a chance to (24) service quality. Indeed, they may spend more than they need to do on service-quality improvements, because they do not get direct help from customers.Management gurus know more about how companies (25) to complaints than about why the British are phlegmatic. In America, well-run companies have "service recovery" (26) Staff at the Marriott group are drilled in the LEARN routine -- Listen, Empathise, Apologise, React, Notify- with the final step (27) that the complaint is fad back into the system. Ritz-Carlton hotel chains, another with a good reputation (28) complaints from customers, trains its staff not to say a mere "sorry" but "please accept my apology" and gives them a budget to reimburse (29) guests.When Brits tidally (30) their courage to grouse, they get results.

单选题 ·Read the article below about a company. ·Choose the correct word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D. ·For each question (21-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. Miele, the German domestic appliance manufacturer, has been in the UK{{U}} (21) {{/U}}thirty years. The company started{{U}} (22) {{/U}}a small office in central London, a staff of five and a turnover{{U}} (23) {{/U}}the first 16 months of ￡53,000. Today it has a modern headquarters at Abingdon, near Oxford, employs about 200 people and has a turnover of￡18 million. The British company,{{U}} (24) {{/U}}the other overseas subsidiaries, is a sales operation. Aangdon is an ideal town{{U}} (25) {{/U}}the UK headquarters. It is very central as a distribution point and only five miles north{{U}} (26) {{/U}}the "inland port" of Milton. The Miele group employs 13,500 people worldwide.{{U}} (27) {{/U}}it is still a family concern. "There is regular contact{{U}} (28) {{/U}}headquarters in Gutersloh, Germany," says Herr Wedekind, chief executive of the British subsidiary. The group sells{{U}} (29) {{/U}}products to up-market customers in shops like Harrods and advertises in publications like The Sunday Times magazine. "We sell our products to people{{U}} (30) {{/U}}want quality, want the best, good after-sale service and trouble-free appliances," says Herr Wedekind.

单选题From this passage, we learn that ______.

单选题 ·You will hear five different people who have all been interviewed for jobs with a large international company which is going to build a new factory. ·For each extract there are two tasks. For Task One, decide which job the speaker was interviewed for from the list A-H. For Task Two, decide which feeling that each person expresses about changing jobs from the list A-H. ·After you have listened once, replay the recording. Task One-Job ·For questions 13-17, match the extracts with the people, listed A-H. ·For each extract, decide which job each speaker was interviewed for. ·Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the extract. A marketing manager B computer programmer C secretary D personnel management assistant E engineering manager F maintenance supervisor G finance director H quality control manager