Part II ( 7 – 12)

• Read the article with blanks and the sentences given below.

• Choose one sentence (A - G) to fill in each blank (7 – 12).

Why Seeing is Succeeding

There are some executives who can do without any marketing research. Is it really possible and how do they manage to do that? The answer is very simple. (7)………. . They launch winning products, and have a feeling for what customers like and dislike.

These executives do not depend on expensive research or any other sec­ondary information. Most of them know the market extremely well and seem to be quite confident and successful. (8)………. .

Take Steve Banks, for example. He is a developer of the best-selling personal finance software, Finax. He had noticed how difficult it was to use existing software products. (9)………. . Although 46 competing pack­ages were available when Finax was launched, it quickly succeeded in attracting the majority of customers.

Then consider the UK oil group which learnt that a new chain of hypermarket petrol stations was overtaking its own outlets. (10)………. . The oil group's managers could have discovered this by going to observe these stations for ten minutes. (11)………. .

One of the Institute's most striking findings is that the best business strategists see things for themselves. (12)………. . They get out into the field with their customers, and gain first-hand experience of their products.

A. The competitor's success was due to a higher standard of service.

B. It became popular because it was much cheaper.

C. And he realised there was a gap in the market.

D. They do not just analyse.

E. Besides, they save a substantial part of the company’s budget.

F. Instead the oil group contacted an agency to carry out more market research.

G. They rely on their intuition and experience and get it right.

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Part III (13 – 20)

• Read the article below and for each question (13 – 20), mark one letter (А, В or C) to choose the correct answer.

Software from the kitchen

If you want to know what someone is like, look at their office. A tidy desk means efficient mind. An untidy desk means busy mind. This is a generally accepted rule. But this doesn't fit Gordon Jackman.

Gordon started his business as a software producer Quillatic. He works at home, in the untidiest kitchen I've ever seen, yet he strangely hates untidiness in business more than anything else. At the same time he admits that he has little interest in detail.

Jackman describes his colleagues as ‘sweepers’. He explains: ‘I can only get as far as the first 80% of an idea, but I know this weakness, so I leave it to everyone else to finish my ideas, to make sure details aren't forgotten. People who don't know their weaknesses run untidy companies and have unhappy companies.’

Most of his ideas, he says, are not new but come from reading just about every management book that is published. ‘You wouldn’t expect a doctor not to have read anything about medicine since qualifying, yet with management it seems to be allowed,’ he says. ‘You have to read whatever’s out there. Even if a book gives you only one idea, it’s something you didn’t have before.’

(13) Gordon Jackman

A. is a typical kind of businessman.

B. is quite different from most businessmen.

C. doesn’t accept any rules.

(14) Gordon Jackman’s untidiness

A. is characteristic of his business.

B. is not to be observed by other people.

C. does not refer to business.

(15) What kind of people does Jackman call ‘sweepers’?

A. those who finish off things that someone else starts.

В. those who start things but don’t finish them.

С. those who work with a project from beginning to end.

(16) What is Jackman’s idea of good business people and doctors?

A. They have to be good at management.

В. They should keep up to date with their field.

С. They need to select reading material carefully.

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