16. Explain what customer loyalty means. Are you a loyal customer? Why, why not? What are your criteria of choosing a product

Customer loyalty it is a situation when customer buys goods only of one brand. He does it because he likes this brand and he can always rely on it. I can't say that I'm a loyal customer, but on the one hand I like every products of Samsung. I think that it is reliable company and I trust very much. On the other hand, I like every brand that exists on the market. I think it is stupid to say, that this product is bad because I don't know such a company, as for me, before buying product I look at its benefits, characteristics and price. Often a product of a famous company is much expensive than product of unknown company. But also, unknown company doesn't make any warranty while a warranty of a famous company is very big. So it is up to you to decide to be a loyal customer or not.

17. Speak on a company's structure, its areas of activities and management. What do you think makes the company successful?

Every company has its own structure. In general company divides into managing and working parts: Board of Directors and labourers. The main part of every company is management, because the productivity of company directly depends on its decision. Board of Directors has its Chairman, Managing Director, CEO (chief executive officer), Finance Manager and others. Today it's very profitable for companies to have several specializations, for instance, computers, video players, TV-sets and mobiles. Examples of such companies are LG, SAMSUNG, and Sony. Speaking about successfulness, to my mind, company is successful, when its parts (managing and working) are in harmony and honestly collaborate. In that case company will be successful.

18. Complete a swot analysis about your progress in your English studies.

SWOT analysis consists of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. I want to complete a SWOT analisis about my progress in my English studies.To my mind Strengths is that I have now studying at the university. I think that teachers are high-qualified, our university has a lot of audio and video materials, and I think it will help for us to improve our knowledge. Next point is weaknesses. To my mind my main weakness is that I have a lot of another subjects and i have a little time for doing my English studies, but I try to allocate time in right way. Next point is Opportunities. To my mind Opportunities is what it gives to us. As I have a lot of studies and in future I'll know English perfectly, and after this I will be able to go abroad to improve my knowledge again and again. The last point is Threats. I think the main threat for me is my laziness and absence of time.

19. Speak on advantages and disadvantages of catalogue shopping, internet shopping and 24 hour shopping. Why is home shopping gaining popularity nowadays?

Nowadays time is the most precious thing in the world for business people that is why they try to save their time and money buying goods in a virtual shop. Every kind of virtual shop is good but I want to say some words about internet shopping. Internet shopping like all other kinds of shopping has its advantages and disadvantages. First of all I want to say a bit about advantages. The main advantage to my mind is that you can buy everything sitting in your chair. Prices in the Internet are much smaller, and you needn't stay for a long time in queues. The prices in internet shops are refreshing every day while in catalogue shopping they refresh once a week. You can order the product you need from all over the world. And I think that the main advantage of internet shopping is simplicity, everything you need is to press the bottom 'order', and input your address and the product will be delivered as soon as it possible. And also sometimes people are very lazy to go to a shop. That's why they try to use internet shops. But internet shopping has disadvantages. The main I think is that you can't touch the thing you've ordered. But in such occasions I always go to the real shop and look and touch the thing what I want and after this I go to an internet shop and order this. As internet shopping has more advantages than disadvantages it is gaining popularity nowadays.

20. You have 2 friends: a retailer and a wholesaler. Whom would you join? Why? What is more profitable?

If I have two friends I'll join a wholesaler, because it is more profitable. Now I'll explain my alternative. Retailing is selling goods and services to the ultimate consumer. Thus, the retailer is the most expensive link in the chain of distribution. Being middlemen, they make their profit by charging the customer 25 to 100 per cent more than the price they paid for the item. The retailers operate through stores, mail-order houses, vending machine operators. There are different types of retail stores: department stores, discount houses, cooperatives, single line retailers. The major part (over 95 per cent) of retail establishments concentrate on a single line of merchandise for example, food, hardware, etc. But nowadays there is a trend for many single line stores to take on a greater variety of supplies. The retailer performs many necessary functions. First, he may provide a convenient location. Second, he often guarantees and services the merchandise he sells. Third, the retailer helps to promote the product through displays, advertising or sales people. Fourth, the retailer can finance the customer by extending credit. Also the retailer stores the goods in his outlet by having goods available. Wholesaling. It provides channels of distribution which help to bring goods to the market. Generally indirect channels are used to market manufactured consumer goods. It could be from the manufacturer to the wholesaler, from the retailer to die consumer or through more complicated channels. A direct channel moves goods from the manufacturer or producer to the consumer. Wholesaling is often a field of small business. About a quarter of wholesaling units account for one-third of total sales. Two-third of the wholesaling middleman are merchant wholesalers who take title to the goods they deal in. There are also agent middlemen who negotiate purchases or sales or both. They don't take title to the goods they deal in. Sometimes they take possession though, these agents don't earn salaries. They receive commissions. This is a percentage of the value of the goods they sell. Wholesalers simplify the process of distribution. As a wholesaler handles a large assortment of items from numerous manufacturers he reduces the problem of both manufacturer and retailer. The store-keeper does not have to deal directly with thousands of different people. He usually has a well-stocked store and deals with only a few wholesalers.

21. Explain the notion of a SWOT analisis using examples of well-known companies.

SWOT analysis it is analysis of the company's strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. (IMG) SWOT analysis shows how company's business is going on,what company should improve in the nearest future.should they invest money or should they reduce the staff or something like that. Strengths. A firm's strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage. (IMG looking for new models, new model manager has a lot of experience and has ability to make good financial decisions). Weaknesses. The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. For example, each of the following may be considered weaknesses: lack of patent protection, a weak brand name, poor reputation among customers, high cost structure lack of access to the best natural resources. ( In the past – one of the best known companies, IMG no longer has a reputation for being fashionable or forward-looking and it has models who are not earning money for the company) Opportunities. The external environmental analysis may revea certain new opportunities for profit and growth. Some examples of such opportunities include: an unfulfilled customer need, arrival of new technologies, loosening of regulations, and removal of international trade barriers.( models switch to good agencies quickly, profits can be exelent for a successful company) Threats. Changes in the external environmental also may present threats to the firm. Some examples of such threats include: Shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm's products, emergence of substitute products, new regulations increased trade barriers. (model agency business is very competitive, all model agencies looking for new models)

22. Yon are the CEO (исполнительный директор) of a company producing consumer durables. Your profits start to get down. What steps will you take in order to make your products more competitive? What will your advertising campaign be like?

First of all I'd find why my profits start to get down. It can be because of bad quality of my products, or because of uncompetitivness of them with disposals. It's a big mistake to solve this problem alone. Much clever to do it with your staff, as the work will be divided and the result will be better. Well when the reasons for losing money were found, I'd start to solve the problem. There are many ways of troubleshooting. In this case I'd make my durables better, cut their price and start an advertising campaign. In this campaign I'd try to explain people the damage of disposals, their harm to nature. Of course I'd include in my campaign the information about my products, their advantages: they are durables, not harmful to nature and have lesser price. I'm sure if the campaign think over rationally, my profits will rise again.