Time is money

The founder and the President of SMH is Nicolas Hayek. SMH is a Swiss watch manufacturer with its head office in Zurich, Switzerland, and a large modern factory in Granges, France. It employs 14,000 people. There are twelve companies in the group including Tissot, Omega and Swatch.

The company’s most famous product is the Swatch watch. The Swatch has a quartz mechanism but only fifty-one parts. A new collection comes out twice a year with forty new designs. SMH sells ten million Swatch watches a year.

The factory in Granges is open twenty-four hours a day, with a daily production of 35,000 watches. Created in 1983, the company makes large profits every year, but a Swatch watch still only costs $40, the same price as in 1983.

Nicolas Hayek is now sixty-five, but he has no plans to retire. One day he hopes to produce the Swatch car, a revolutionary automobile for the future generations. But it’s not “all work and no play” for Mr Hayek. In his free time he plays a lot of tennis, sometimes with his friend Jean-Paul Belmondo, the French actor. The company has been prospering for so many years mostly thanks to Hayek’s personal qualities and his belief that all dreams can come true It is only necessary to work hard and be confident of yourself and the people you are working with.

B. Say if these sentences are true or false.

1. The head office of the company is in Munich, Germany.

2. Swatch and Omega are daughter companies.

3. There are ten new designs of Swatch watches a year.

4. The company sells 35,000 Swatch watches a year.

5. The Swatch factory never closes.

6. The price of a Swatch watch is the same as in 1983.

7. The President of the company wants to produce a Swatch car.

8. Mr Hayek is going to retire as he is tired of his work and fame.

C. Complete the questions and answers.

1. …...... SMH a Swiss company?

…....., it....... . Its collection …. out twice a year.

2. …...... Swatch make cars?

…....., it …....... . It makes watches.

3. …...... the head office in Basle?

…......, it........ . It …... in Zurich.

4. …....... there fourteen companies in the group?

…......, there …... .There …..... twelve.

5. …...... a new collection come once a year?

…......, it …. .

6. ….... the factory open 24 hours a day?

…......, it …. .

7. …....... Nicolas Hayek plan to retire?

…......, he …....... .

8. …........ Mr Hayek believe that all dreams can come true?

…......., he.......... .

• SPEAKING

A. Work in pairs. Find the information about modern famous leaders of large companies. Tell each other about these people and their companies and ask clarifying questions, e.g.

Did you say Mr......... headed the company in........?

B. Role-play the situation. You are the leader of the company which has force majeure circumstances (e.g. delivered goods are damaged). You must decide with you partners what to do.