Exercise 4

Listen to the introduction once again. Answer the following questions and be ready to give a story line. Use the word combinations in brackets.

1. What are the present business activities of Ambrose Harper and Hector Grant?

(to start the company; to be in one’s fifties; to be semi-retired; to attend the board meetings; to keep an eye on the business)

2. How did Mr. Grant Senior manage to put the business on its feet?

(to start by making steel wastepaper bins for offices; a basket made of cane or straw; likelihood of fire; to capture a big contract; to supply government offices)

3. Why is it possible to draw a parallel between Wingate Grant and Napoleon?

(happy coincidence; to turn something into success or failure; to give somebody a higher command; to land a contract, to catch fire; to destroy a number of irreplaceable documents)

4. What are the different ideas of the ways to run business among the officials in Harper & Grant Ltd.?

(slow but steady growth; to know the best way to run a business; to join the company; to be appointed Sales Manager; to be adventurous; to treble business; to achieve something with modern business techniques; to increase exports)

5. What are the aids and tools of making business efficient?

(to modernise a business; to increase profitability and competitiveness; to be a complicated affair; to be aware of aids and tools of efficiency; electronic data processing; Operational Research; Discounted Cash Flow; budgetary control; corporate planning; Project Evaluation and Review Technique)

6. What are the peculiarities of running a small business?

(to have experts on the staff; to hire expert advice from outside consultants and bureaux; to be aware of sophisticated techniques; to solve particular problems; to get right up-to-date; to enlarge business; to be outpaced by somebody)

Exercise 5

Match the terms on the left with an appropriate explanation on the right. Fill in the grid below.

1.	board meeting	A	drawers or cupboards for storing records (letters, memos, etc.), usually filed in alphabetical order
2.	catalogue	B	the method of analysing and recording business information by means of computer
3.	chairman	C	a meeting of the Board of Directors, group of organisers in control of a business
4.	Electronic Data Processing (E.D.P.)	D	executive in charge of promoting sales of the firm’s goods
5.	filing cabinets	E	the top executive of a company, concerned with policy and long-range aspects. He presides at or chairs board meetings; hence his name.
6.	rival	F	the executive director in charge of the day-to-day running of a company
7.	Sales Manager	G	a group of persons working together
8.	staff	H	executive in charge of production of goods
9.	Managing Director	I	a person who competes with another for a prize, a reward, success, etc.
10.	Production Manager	J	a list of goods for sale, often illustrated

1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.

Exercise 6

Be ready to give a story line of the company. Use the word combinations mentioned above. Cover the following points:

1. The founders of the company.

2. The beginning of the company.

3. The products of Harper & Grant Ltd.

4. The plans of the management team.

5. Modernising a business.

6. A small business and its problems.

Unit 1

New Markets Are Vital