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facilities that were fully used and greatly enjoyed. A thriving Social Club embraced many activities including football, bowls, cricket, shooting, chess and a male voice choir.

In 1959 the company name was changed to Associated Electrical Industries Limited (AEI). The rationalization which followed the merger of AEI, the General Electric Company (GEC) and English Electric in 1967 and 1968 led to the site being selected as the center for the development and manufacture of the medium voltage businesses of the enlarged GEC group.

In the seventies it emerged as strong as ever as the leading British manufacture of medium voltage distribution switchgear. This was the decade of changing technology, with the use of vacuum interrupters in place of oil circuit breakers leading to improved products with simplified designs and reduced maintenance requirements. In 1973 GEC Distribution Switchgear celebrated its diamond jubilee with the introduction of BVAC, an innovative design of switchgear and one of the first in the world to use vacuum interrupters.

In the late eighties came the merger of the GEC power businesses with those of Alcatel ALSTHOM to form GEC Alsthom, which ten years later in 1998 became ALSTOM.

Since its information the Company has continued to advance, expanding both geographically and in terms of its products and services. It has also built a reputation as an innovator, through its ability to anticipate customers’ needs, not only with its technology but also through its service and financing solutions. Today ALSTOM is one of the world’s leading suppliers of components, equipment, systems and services to the power generation, transmission and distribution, rail transport and marine markets. The Company is known for its high-speed trains, which operate on numerous routes in Europe at speeds of up to 300km per hour. Its power plants are helping the development of economies worldwide.

ALSTOM serves the world’s markets by drawing on a wide range of expertise. These skills have been developed from a large installed equipment base. They include the management of complex projects, risk control, cost management, research, development and design, world-class manufacturing and innovative financing.

These capabilities bind the Company together. Alongside the Company’s technical knowledge, they have made possible a range of improved products and services that anticipate change, meet the ever more complex needs of their customers and provide superior performance. From giant hydroelectric power plants in Brazil to high voltage substations in Egypt, from high speed rail systems on three continents to the world’s largest airport handling centre, the Company’s expertise is helping leading businesses toremain at the forefront oftheir industries.

As part of a major international company, ALSTOM T&D Distribution Switchgear Ltd continues in its role as a leading designer and manufacture of medium

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voltage switchgear, which it sells to power generators; electricity, gas and water utilities;oil, petrochemical, steel, paper and industrial users; rail and marinecustomers, bothat home andaround theworld.

And so, today, ALSTOM T&D Distribution Switchgear Ltd, with a worldwide market for its products, continues the tradition ofenterprise, innovationand excellence establishedonthe HigherOpenshawsite in1913by FergusonPailin.

Text 40

You are told to make a report on successful management. Use the information below for help.

MATCHING INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

A family firm in the true tradition, H Marcel Guest was founded in 1930 by two young salesmen, Harold Marcel Guest and Herbert J Falder. After finding suitable premises in Oliver Street, Openshaw, they went into business together to manufacture a bottle capping solution that was used to seal corks in bottles. Once the solution was applied, the result was a plastic cap that moulded itself to the shape of the bottle. Leakproof and tamperproof, the hermetically sealed cap turned out to be invaluable not only to the wines and spirits trade but also to the drugs industry. Available in a wide range of colours, it was also attractive. The fact that the plastic seal was unaffected by extreme temperatures made the product suitable for use all over the world.

HMG spent a short time at the Oliver Street premises before moving to the “New Era” works in Fitzgeorge Street, Collyhurst.

Harold Marcel Guest left quite amicably shortly after the move to Fitzgeorge Street. Herbert J Falder’s father, Benson Falder, left the police force to help his son through very difficult times. The company gradually got onto its feet, moving into the automobile refinish business in an unusual way. HJF’s Ford car was damaged by a railway wagon horse, delivering to the company and HJF made his own black cellulose lacquer to repaint the car – the work was carried out by Manchester Garages, who liked the material and promptly ordered five gallons, thus becoming the first customer in that finish.

The success of their first venture into a new field meant that before long the fledgling company was offering an impressive list of other products such as lacquers, synthetic undercoats.

The advantages of the cellulose were that it quickly dried to a fine high gloss that was durable and resistant to yellowing and could be burnished and polished.

World War II proved to be a trying time for the company, but unlike many other firms who lost many of their young men and women, all of HMG’s workforce returned safely. Raw materials were of course in very short supply during that time and on ration.

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They naturally offered standard off-the-shelf products, but developing special paints and specialised coatings to complement their clients’ products became part and parcel of the company’s growing technical superiority.

Now producing a vast range of coatings that are appropriate to any job, and possessing one of the largest turnovers among privately owned industrial paint producers in the UK, HMG today have 200 employees – though they still run the business on the lines of a large extended family. In fact the present managing director John Falder is the grandson of founder Herbert J Falder, and his brother Stephen is Marketing and Export Director. Their father Brian Falder ran the company for over 40 years and is now semi-retired, though he retains the post of Chairman.

This extended family atmosphere has generated the kind of loyalty among their staff that is rarely seen, especially within the larger companies. But HMG regard their workforce as their greatest asset, and greatly value their knowledge and expertise – an attitude that has resulted in an impressive record of longserving employees. Outstanding amongst this group was Stan Wallwork, who started as a young boy, stayed with the company for 60 years and was honoured by receiving the BEM for his services to industry. This was seen as being received on behalf of all the long serving HMG employees.

A vast range of coatings are produced at the firm’s Riverside Works in Collyhurst Road, and in a process that is semi-automatic, the plant and equipment produces quantities of paint that can vary from one litre to 10 tonnes.

The company’s extensive customer base lists such impressive names as Rolls Royce, The Rover Group, Ford, The Henley Group, Vickers, GEC, British Aerospace, GKN, Disney and a large number of other major international blue chip companies.

While supplying the large companies, HMG still give total commitment to the individual customer. One of their specialities is colour matching to the exact requirements of their clients, and occasionally they receive rather strange requests for customised materials. They well remember the farmer who wanted to enter one of his pigs in a show, and approached the company to ask them to produce a pink non-toxic paint to disguise a blemish on its back. HMG matched the paint to the pig – and naturally, the pig went on to win the contest trotters down!

Since the very earliest years of the company, HMG have been committed to innovation, utilising the latest technology in administration and production. Almost 70 years have passed since then, and HMG have developed into independent specialists. The expertise of their large team of knowledgeable staff has allowed the company to offer their clients a technical help line to their laboratory personnel.

Recently the company’s expertise and unique technology went into developing an anti-foul paint from a process that mimics the skin of a living

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creature. The observation was made that fish and other water-dwelling creatures, in spite of spending 100% of their time in water, are not prone to fouling by marine growth. That simple consideration provided the inspiration for the development of the paint, which they gave the descriptive and highly individual name “Slippy Bottom”.

HMG are justifiably proud of their commitment to community and environmental concerns, and as a member of the Vorsey Basin Campaign have achieved a gold award as a “good neighbour” for the River Irk. It was the enormous amount of work the firm carried out along the riverside, clearing debris and reinstating the riverbank, as well as their meticulous clean water practices, that led to them receiving the coveted award. An ongoing ecological survey by a well-known environmental consultant records the local flora and fauna, and each summer HMG employ a group of students to remove the invading knotweed, an insidious growth that impedes the spread of native flora, from the riverbank.

The company has an eye to the visual effect of the local surroundings, and they have agreed with the local council to maintain the land opposite their administrative block, employing a member of staff especially to work on the grass and shrubbery. For the benefit of the public as well as their staff, they commissioned several works by local sculptors, which they have positioned on the riverbank, on the bridge and within their own grounds, and stone steps with a sculpted handrail leading to the river have been constructed.

Their latest project, to be completed in five phases, will create an area of woodland, and a total of 1800 native saplings have already been planted. Further phases, to be completed over the next five years, will produce a pond and marsh with timber decking; pathways, hedgerows, meadows, seating and more sculptures are planned. The entire creation will be an area of outstanding beauty, which will be available for all to enjoy.

The company has also given sponsorship to a book based on the natural history of the River Irk. A guide to the public as well as an educational tool, the book will be used to further National Curriculum local history studies. Local primary school children will be involved in many of the projects that are expected to result from the book’s publication.

This culture of care about the environment and towards their employees, suppliers, customers and the local community reflects the traditional values of this family owned firm. HMG thrive on establishing and maintaining good relationships with all who come into contact with them, and their aim is to continue to provide a friendly, speedy and efficient service to every customer anywhere in the world.

Text 41

Express your delight or indignation about this article.

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implement a decoration strategy on 75cl bottles and event-orientated or collectors' magnums.

The advantage of the sleeve is the possibility of developing an elaborate decoration over the whole surface of the bottle, together with the graphic possibilities and the richness of color offered by gravure printing.

Nescafe’s self-heating coffee can – to be launched this summer in the UK - is a concentration of packaging technology innovation in many ways. Though the inner reactive quick time + water heat engine has been widely publicized, the outer shell is just as amazing. A tin can it is, except that, unlike soft drink cans, it is expected to protect the consumer from the 60°C that’s reached when the heating system is activated. This is achieved through the combination of an insulating corrugated liner with an outer OPS sleeve.

The sleeve is an integral part of Nescafe’s “hot when you want” concept in holding the insulation together with the can. It also offers trendy, attractive printed visuals and contains directions for use bar code and legal notices.

Text 42 After reading the text write its short summary.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS

What are the things a person can do to get ahead in business? At first I thought this was an incredibly rudimentary question. I mean, honestly.

And then ... I considered for a moment. We tend to deal, you and I, with the subtle nuances that attend a career in mid-flight. We seldom contemplate the basic truths that got us here. What harm would there be, I thought after reading this guileless query, in reexamining the fundamental principles?

And so, my young friend, please accept these few building blocks upon which you may with confidence, I believe, lay the foundation of your temple. Some are easy. Some are not. All are appropriate not so much for the practiced campaigner, but rather for he or she who is eager to get a good start in life.

1.Wear a gray or blue suit and a nice red or yellow silk tie with blue dots, or possibly a stripe. This is the way people want you to look in business, whether the rest of your graduating class is wearing that or not. If you’re a woman, wear a gray or blue suit and a nice red or yellow silk scarf with a responsible pattern of some sort. Whatever your sex, carry a soft briefcase that attracts little attention – hard attaché cases are for weenies – and make sure to wear glasses whenever possible. Do not wear a goatee unless you are pursuing a conscious strategy of being abrasive to those in positions of power.

2.Never say what you really think. Say what people want to hear, with a tiny bit of what you think thrown in. This is tougher than it sounds. To accomplish it you will need to actually listen to other people for a while to ascertain what it is they might require you to say. This listening is good practice

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for later, when you’re in middle management and must be able to hear the secret thoughts of dangerous people before they kill you. Later still, you can stop listening altogether, but that day is a long way off.

3.Be really nice to everybody you can be nice to. If you must be tough with somebody, don’t overdo it. And if you have a choice between screwing somebody or helping him get a little bit out of the deal, do the latter. People will come to see you as someone who deserves to win and will rejoice in your success.

4.Never sacrifice friends and loved ones on the altar of Mammon. It’s only business, you know. The people you love should be around long after you decide to hang it up and move to St. John. This means pushing back respectfully every time people with no life try to suck yours from you. Meetings that begin at 6 P.M. are to be avoided, for instance, unless they pertain to something of immediate and crucial import. Announce regular vacations, and stick to them. That will be a lot trickier than it may seem. Any office that does not permit its employees to have an independent existence must be abandoned, so establish your personal space the moment you hit ground, starting with weekends and moving outward from there.

5.Be patient with your elders. They have an incredibly hard job to do, most of them, and they’re barely up to it. Don’t be too disappointed when they fail to get out of the way fast enough for your ambitions. In any event, never let them see you praying for their death. It makes them resent you.

6.Have some insight about what you can and cannot do. That will make it unnecessary for others to point it out.

7.Whatever you can do yourself, do. Do not slough off unimportant or obnoxious tasks to others. There will be time for that later; when you’ve gotten to the point where other people are the tools you use to get things done.

8.Don’t be bitter at the success of others. Their status has nothing to do with you, even though you may feel as if it does. There will always be people more successful than you, many of whom are less talented or worthy. That’s the nature of existence. Why worry about it? You’ll eat yourself up from the inside out, and it won’t change a thing. Be happy instead. I know it seems stupid and impossible, but try.

9.Never take a meeting when a phone call will do. Never place a phone call when an e-mail will do. Never launch an e-mail if 17 words in the elevator will suffice. Don’t travel just to show that you’re an important person who must be places. Don’t surround the activity of business with fruitless jabber and twaddle and rummaging around for no good purpose. Get things done expeditiously and move on, and if you must meet, bring your own pen.

10.Be loyal, even when it is to your detriment. That kind of behavior has a way of getting noticed and appreciated in your target audience. As does the lack of it.

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11.Don’t blame others for your mistakes. In fact, don’t blame others for their mistakes, even when you might avoid trouble by doing so. Just suck it up and never, ever make excuses, even when you have excellent ones. Big macho men and women who move gigantic furniture around for a living absolutely hate excuses, and they hate good excuses even more than bad ones. Everybody makes mistakes. But only losers make excuses.

12.Stay put until you absolutely cannot do so a moment longer. Dig in. Hang tough. Cultures are deep. It takes time to negotiate them. People are the same everywhere. And careers can develop a rhythm only if you give them a chance to do so. Remember this: People who jump from job to job every two or three years from the beginning end up doing that for their entire careers, tinkerers skittering along on the surface of organizations that use but do not love them. Eventually they become consultants.

13.Do not become a consultant.

14.Don’t be greedy. You’re too young to rate real wealth. If you were meant to be a billionaire, if such was to be your fate, you would know it already. More probably you are destined to work hard, be given nothing for free, and earn every dime you require for the rest of your life. Okay?

15.Have fun. And if you can’t have fun, don’t. Who said it was supposed to be fun? This is business, not windsurfing.

If none of these rules work ... then do the opposite. That should work fine

too.

STANLEY BING is a real executive at a real FORTUNE 500 company he’d rather not name.

Text 43

You are Mayor Calderon. Give a piece of advice to a businessman who wants to start his own business.

A BUSINESS BACKGROUND BENEFITS

A Cleaner, Safer, More Attractive and Prosperous Capital are the Goals of a Mayor with an Extensive Background in the Private Sector.

A private sector background has been instrumental in preparing Sila M. Calderon for her job as mayor of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan as she applies lessons learned in business to managing the affairs of a large city which is undergoing profound change.

“My education and training was in political science, but my work experience has been in the private sector and so now when I focus on a problem, do it from a business angle,” she says.

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“That means figuring out the best use of resources, generating resources and, of course, the financing of the use of those resources.”

Ms. Calderon credits her management team for helping her carry out the administrative changes at city hall which had to be put into place before she could begin fulfilling her campaign promises. One of the first tasks was putting San Juan’s financial situation in order.

“Over the past three years we’ve had pretty solid management from a financial point of view,” she explains. “We’ve generated new sources of income, seen some significant increases in our revenues, and ended last year with a surplus of $9.8 million. And if you recall, there was a big hurricane that year which meant $22 million in unexpected costs. So ending the year with a surplus shows were in a fairly solid financial position.”

Although she knew it would be unpopular, Ms. Calderon revised the real estate property tax rates, the first mayor to do so in 25 years. But the funds were needed to overhaul the city’s infrastructure and for vital maintenance.

“There were no complaints from the citizens, only from the opposing party, because everyone knew that the money was going to be used well and it was. The city’s debt financing capacity went from $47 million to $347 million and this is what enables us to invest in big infrastructure projects,” she says.

At the present, there are 365 such projects, big and small, in San Juan including the renovation of plazas, installing new sewer systems, widening streets, planting trees, improving hospitals, building new police stations and sport facilities, among others.

“We’re planting 11,000 trees around the city at a cost of $8 million and we’ve also renovated all the city’s cleaning equipment. All our capital improvements projects and acquisition of new equipment represents an investment of more than $375 million,” Ms. Calderon says.

“Getting results” is how the mayor describes her philosophy of politics, managing city hall as if it were a big corporation with shareholders breathing down the executives’ necks.

“And this ‘corporation’ can’t dedicate itself to things like political patronage,” she explains. “It has to dedicate itself to the business of governing and producing results, which is the same for governments as the bottom line is for companies. In many city halls, the focus is on politics, my focus is good government.”

Much of the infrastructure improvements are aimed at keeping San Juan’s residents and businesses from abandoning the city for the suburbs, a problem in many cities around the world, and to promote their return. One problem that San Juan faces is that people who live in nearby communities only come into the city to work, taking advantage of San Juan’s services and infrastructure, without paying taxes in support.

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“We have four central city districts here: Old San Juan, Santurce, Rio Piedras and Condado, and my policy has been to develop the housing sector so as to make people want to live and invest in these four districts,” Ms. Calderon explains. “We’ve also established incentives for companies who want to invest here.”

As nice as a city may be, it also has to be safe and offer activities which will attract residents and get them outside to enjoy all these improvements, and the mayor is also working on these issues.

“What we’ve done is improve street lighting and put more policemen out there to make the city a safer place. And we’ve introduced new laws against public drinking, for example, and the use of glass bottles in the street.”

At the same time, there are open-air movie theaters, craft workshops for children, outdoor public concerts in the city's plazas and other cultural events. “In short, a more beautiful, more secure and more active urban environment which will make people want to live here,” she says.

But it has not all gone smoothly, and one big project that has triggered a spat with the central government is a new development going up in Condado to replace the old convention center. The proposed development will consist of apartment blocks, entertainment centers, a shopping complex, movie theaters, a time-share complex and a hotel, which will represent an excessive demand on the areas existing infrastructure.

“We see it as just too intense and dense,” argues Ms. Calderon. “We are against the violation of environmental legislation and the demolition of the old Hotel La Concha which was built back in the 1950s and is treasured for its architectural value. So we took the issue to court.”

The mayor also sees San Juan as the cradle of Puerto Rican culture and the capital of Puerto Rican identity, which she says must be promotedand nurtured.

“This identity is a mix of Indian, black and Spanish heritage and has unique characteristics and customs,” she says. “And the Spanish language in which we speak, sing and love is also vital to the Puerto Rican identity. All of this has to be protected.”

Mayor Calderon, who’s currently running for governor, concluded, “The reality is that San Juan, as the capital city, and Puerto Rico as a whole, have a great future with an extraordinary place to invest because of its immense potential for investment.”

Text 44

You work for Nokia. A group of Russian businessmen has come to your company to exchange experience. Tell them about your achievements.

A UNIQUE COMPANY

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