- •Contents
- •Economic issue: companies
- •Xerox takes road towards reinvention
- •Unit 1
- •Xerox takes road towards reinvention
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •Unbundling вт
- •Unit 2 unbundling bt
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combination given below.
- •In groups discuss the following questions.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •The perfect deal that keeps everyone happy
- •Unit 3 the pefect deal that keeps everyone happy
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Split into two groups and discuss the following questions.
- •Merger reveals details of mittal empire
- •Unit 4 merger reveals details of mittal empire
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Bargains from cyberspace free for the asking
- •Unit 5 bargains from cyberspace free for the asking
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •Canada adds sparkle to de beers' strategy
- •Unit 6 canada adds sparkle to de beers’ strategy
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Shell shake-up fails to fuel optimism
- •Unit 7 shell shake-up fails to fuel optimism
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Read the following text for additional information. How marketing adds utility to goods and services
- •Managers break the last taboo
- •Unit 8 managers break the last taboo
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •Contrite executives play the blame and shame game
- •Unit 9 contrite executives play the blame and shame game
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Economic issue: risk management
- •Ready for when things go wrong
- •Unit 10 ready for when things go wrong
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Debate the following statement: “Businesses are responsible for the products they make and should be liable for any and all injuries sustained by customers using them”.
- •In pairs make up a dialogue between a risk manager in a major corporation and a journalist. Talk about what he or she does and what the challenges are.
- •Wanted: less bang for your buck
- •Unit 11 wanted:less bang for your buck
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Match the following kinds of automobile insurance with their explanations.
- •How to measure the immeasurable
- •Unit 12 how to measure the immesurable
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Prepare the report: The difference between pure and speculative risks, how they can be covered by insurance.
- •Too careful and you can choke
- •Unit 13 too careful and you can choke
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Match the following kinds of risk insurance with their explanations.
- •In groups discuss the following questions.
- •A good name is everything
- •Unit 14 a good name is everything
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Discuss in groups the following questions.
- •Find any insurance policy. Bring some policies to class and discuss them. Do you understand what is covered and what is not? Should policies be clearer? Why aren’t they?
- •A) Find some information about such careers as actuary and claims adjuster for an insurance company. Report your findings to class and discuss these careers.
- •Economic issue: advertising
- •A hard line on flights of fancy
- •Unit 15 a hard line on flights of fancy
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •Economic issue: internet advertising
- •Growth at different speeds
- •Unit 16 growth at different speeds
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Such stuff as dreams are made on
- •Unit 17 such stuff as dreams are made on
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Prepare the following reports and discuss them in groups.
- •Economic issue: banking
- •Banker’s profit from attention to detail
- •Unit 18 banker’s profit from attention to detail
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •In groups discuss the following questions.
- •Economic issue: employment
- •Australia fights for quota of non-it staff
- •Unit 19 australia fights for quota of non-it staff
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Match the following kinds of compensating employees with their explanations.
- •Economic issue: taxation
- •Business 'more wary about tax affairs'
- •Unit 20 business ‘more wary about tax affairs’
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •7. Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Caught in a legal trap of suspicious minds
- •Unit 21 caught in a legal trap of suspicious minds
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Reread the text. Match the names of the people from the text in the left-side column with the positions they hold in the right-side column.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •London's dirty secret
- •Unit 22 london's dirty secret
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •In groups discuss the following.
- •The federation is 'over-governed'
- •Unit 23 the federation is 'over-governed'
- •Pronounce the following words and word combinations. Use a dictionary if necessary.
- •Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
- •Read the text again and answer the following questions.
- •Complete the sentences with the information taken from the text.
- •Explain the following English words and word combinations in your own words.
- •Decide which of the following statements are right and which are wrong. Give the correct variants.
- •Make up your own sentences using the words and word combinations given below.
- •Discuss in groups the following questions.
How to measure the immeasurable
Andrea Felsted examines the range of options available to businesses but finds there is no substitute for common sense
Just as companies today face myriad risks to their operations, so they can choose from a wide range of tools to help them identify, measure and control the threats they face.
Such instruments range from tools that rely on complex mathematical and statistical analysis, to those which are very subjective, such as web-based systems that enable a company to canvas the opinions of its staff around the world on subjects such as stress in the workplace.
As particular hazards come to the forefront of companies’ and insurers’ minds, so risk management tools are being adapted to meet their changing needs.
Oliver Peterken, a director of Willis, the insurance broker, says that since the World Trade Center attacks three years ago, catastrophe modelling is increasingly being applied to man-made disasters.
Previously, the technique, which uses computer programmes to estimate the impact from potential disasters, was used mainly to calculate losses from natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes.
“In terms of people’s focus, I would say it has gone from 100 per cent natural and nought man-made. It is probably now 70/30,” says Mr Peterken.
Despite the startling array of tools available, Eddie McLaughlin, head of business risk consulting at Marsh, the insurance broker, points out that the decision on which tool to use is dictated by the particular business and issue at hand.
For example, a bank looking at how much capital to set aside against a particular risk would require a very mathematical approach.
But a company considering relocating a manufacturing plant would need to take in the views and opinions of executives involved in the decision on what the key risks might be.
In order to reach a consensus in such a situation, Mr McLaughlin says management could use a voting keypad enabling executives to elect the level of threat they attach to different hazards.
But some threats, such as shifts in competition or damage to a company’s reputation, are less tangible and much harder to measure.
In the face of such risks, suitable tools would feature scenario analysis.
This enables managers to establish a range of different outcomes depending on various decisions and actions.
FM Global, a commercial and industrial property insurer, believes the majority of all loss can be prevented or minimised.
It eschews mathematical modelling in favour of replicating full scale warehouse fires, floods and explosions at a purpose built research campus.
These insights can then be used to develop initiatives to prevent or minimise losses.
Paul Taylor, a spokesman for the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers, agrees complex tools might not always be the answer.
What is needed, he says, is an understanding of how likely a particular event or hazard is to occur, and what its impact would be, either financially, or in terms of damage to a company’s reputation.
The impact should be evaluated at two levels: a worst-case scenario and a best case scenario with all possible risk mitigation measures in place.
The effects of either situation can then be presented graphically on a simple risk map or matrix.
The vertical axis represents the probability of an event occurring, and the horizontal axis the impact. Each segment in the grid would represent a certain level of impact.
“It is an awful lot of common sense. It is not rocket science,” says Mr Taylor.
But such an approach “enables someone to look at the risks and make a quick decision or make a clear decision on whether or not these risks are acceptable given the business environment and context”.
An array of sophisticated tools however does not negate the need for more down-to-earth thinking.
“These tools are not a substitute at all for judgment or common sense,” says Mr McLaughlin.
Nor should the conclusions of a sophisticated modelling tool be accepted without question.
“Everyone has heard of garbage in, garbage out. There is also garbage in, gospel out. There is a danger that if something has come out of a computer, everyone thinks it is perfection. They attach a greater credibility to the number because there is some substance. It is expected to be precise. But it is better to be roughly correct than precisely wrong,” says Mr McLaughlin.
Instinct also plays an essential part.
The hazards that a company is prepared to live with will depend on its attitude towards risk and also its culture.
But the problem with instinct is that it can sometimes lead to decisions that have more do with managers’ favourite topics than the reality of the business environment.
“The danger with instinct is that there is nothing to back it up,” says Mr McLaughlin.
“The tools get a balanced decision, with some form of justification for your action.”