Get Ready for the Postgraduate Entrance English Exam. Working with Texts. Часть 1. Учебное пособие

its risk preferences) and construct a list of planned holdings accordingly.

2. Match the words given in the left column with the words in the

Unit 5

I. Information for study

Marketing

The American Marketing Association suggests that Marketing is the process of planning and executing the pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, ideas, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. Another definition, perhaps simpler and more universal, it is the process of moving people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow, refer, upload, download, obey, reject, conform, become complacent to another person's, society's or organization's value. Simply, if it doesn't facilitate a "sale" then it's not marketing.

Prior to the advent of market research, most companies were product-focused, employing teams of salespeople to push their products into or onto the market, regardless of market desire. A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization instead first determines what its potential customers desire, and then builds the product or service. Marketing theory and practice is justified on the belief that customers use a product/service because they have a need, or because a product/service has a perceived benefit.

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Two major aspects of marketing are the recruitment of new customers (acquisition) and the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers (base management).

An emerging area of study and practice concerns internal marketing, or how employees are trained and managed to deliver the brand in a way that positively impacts the acquisition and retention of customers.

Once a marketer has converted the prospective buyer, base management marketing takes over. The process for base management shifts the marketer to building a relationship, nurturing the links, enhancing the benefits that sold the buyer in the first place and improving the products/service continuously to protect her business from competitive encroachments.

Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Market research underpins these activities. Through advertising, it is also related to many of the creative arts.

Types of markets

The word market originally meant the place where the exchange between seller and buyer took place. Today we speak of a market as either a region where goods are sold and bought or particular types of buyer. When strategizing specialists in marketing comment about markets they are usually referring to the different groups of people and/or organizations. The four major market groups are 1) consumer, 2) business to business, 3) institutional, and 4) reseller.

Product, price, promotion, and placement

In popular usage, the term "marketing" refers to the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding. However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning that recognizes that marketing is customer centered. Products are often developed to meet the desires of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. McCarthy divided marketing into four general sets of activities. His typology has become so universally recognized that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have passed into the language.

The Four Ps are:

• Product: The Product management and Product marketing aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants.

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•Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts.

•Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

•Placement or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix. A marketer can use these variables to craft a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low value consumer products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products require adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique nature of services. Industrial marketing must account for the long term contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship marketing attempts to do this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship perspective rather than individual transactions.

Technique

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the Four Ps must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management is the practical application of this process.

Most companies today have a customer orientation (also called customer focus). This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on customer needs. Generally there are two ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach and the product innovation approach.

In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no point spending R&D funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs.

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The next big thing is a concept in marketing that refers to a product or idea that will allow for a high amount of sales for that product and related products. Marketers believe that by finding or creating the next big thing they will spark a cultural revolution that results in this sales increase.

In a product innovation approach, the company pursues product innovation, then tries to develop a market for the product. Product innovation drives the process and marketing research is conducted primarily to ensure that a profitable market segment(s) exists for the innovation. The rationale is that customers may not know what options will be available to them in the future so we should not expect them to tell us what they will buy in the future. It is claimed that if Thomas Edison depended on marketing research he would have produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs. Many firms, such as research and development focused companies, successfully focus on product innovation. Diffusion of innovations research explores how and why people adopt new products, services and ideas.

A relatively new form of marketing uses the Internet and is called internet marketing or more generally e-marketing, affiliate marketing or online marketing. It typically tries to perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional marketing. It targets its audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing.

II. Vocabulary Items

acquisition n – приобретение advantage n – преимущество affiliate a – присоединенный

application n – применение, использование approach n – подход

benefit n – польза

brand n – сорт, качество, марка

chain n – сеть однородных предприятий (одного владельца или под одним управлением)

contractual agreement – контрактное соглашение diffusion n – распространение

distribution n – распределение, размещение encroachment n – вторжение

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end-user n – конечный пользователь

marketing n – торговля, продажа, сбыт, маркетинг marketing research n – анализ возможностей сбыта placement n – размещение

pricing n – оценка

publicity n – известность, реклама purchase n – покупка, приобретение recruitment n – пополнение, задействование research n – исследование, изучение reseller n – торговый посредник segmentation n – деление, сегментация supply chain n – система поставок

target market – целевой рынок

III. Exercises

1.Read the text.

2.Learn the vocabulary items by heart.

3.Translate the text in written form.

4.Retell the text using the following expressions and terms: market research, product-focused, market-focused, customer-focused, potential customer, internal marketing, consumer, business to business, institutional, reseller, the promotion of products, Product management, Product marketing, end-user’s needs and wants, to set price, sales promotion, personal selling, the four Ps model, contractual agreements, chain transactions, target market, marketing research, the customer-driven approach, the product innovation approach, internet marketing, one-to-one marketing.

IV. Test II (5)

1. Read the text again and decide which statements are true.

1.A market-focused organization first determines what its potential customers desire, and then builds the product or service.

2.In professional usage, the term "marketing" refers to the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding.

3.Two major aspects of marketing are the recruitment of new customers and the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers.

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4.A new form of marketing uses the Internet and is called affiliate marketing.

2. Match the words given in the left column with the words in the

Unit 6

I. Information for study

Monitoring and Reviewing Progress

Monitoring is one of the primary practices that determine how effective a manager is. Monitoring involves gathering information about the operations of the manager's organization or work unit and about relevant events in the external environment. Information is gathered about:

•The progress of the work.

•The success of projects or programs.

•The performance of individual subordinates.

•The quality of products or services.

•The concerns of customers and clients.

•Changes in the external environment such as market trends, economic conditions, government policies, technological developments, and actions of competitors.

The primary purpose of monitoring is to gather information necessary to formulate and modify objectives, strategies, plans, policies, and procedures. Monitoring provides the information managers need to guide

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their behavior toward subordinates, peers, superiors, and outsiders. When monitoring is insufficient, the organization is likely to experience failure to detect problems before they become serious – problems such as declining quality, low productivity, cost overruns, employee dissatisfaction, projects behind schedule, customer dissatisfaction, changes in customer preferences, and new technological developments that provide competitors with an advantage. Without adequate monitoring of subordinate performance, a manager is unable to provide appropriate recognition for achievements, to identify subordinates who need coaching or assistance in accomplishing their work objectives, to evaluate performance of subordinates accurately, and to have a sound basis for determining allocation of rewards such as pay increases.

Monitoring is facilitated by developing a network of contacts with people who can provide timely and relevant information about events affecting a manager's work unit. Monitoring is also aided by development of information systems and measurement procedures to provide relevant, accurate, and timely data on the quantity and quality of the work unit's products or services, the productivity of its employees, expenditures in relation to budgeted amounts, progress on projects in relation to target dates, and progress of subordinates in implementing action plans. Identification of relevant performance, measures is discussed in more detail in the module on setting objectives.

Monitoring also depends on the quality of relations with subordinates. It is impeded when subordinates are afraid of informing their superiors about problems, mistakes, and delays. If subordinates are distrustful and withhold or distort information about problems, it is difficult if not impossible for managers to obtain the information necessary to manage effectively. Managers can use a variety of approaches to improve the upward flow of information, such as developing independent sources of information, increasing contacts with subordinates at various levels (e.g., management by, wandering around), and reacting to problems in a constructive, non-punitive manner (e.g., helping subordinates learn from mistakes rather than punishing them).

Monitoring is necessary for all managers but it is more important in some situations than in others. The following conditions increase the importance of obtaining timely and accurate information:

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•Mistakes, quality problems, or accidents are likely due to inexperienced or unskilled subordinates, or due to the difficult nature of the work.

•Mistakes and accidents would be expensive or would endanger the health and lives of people.

•The work unit carries out long, complex projects requiring detailed planning and coordination.

•Subordinates have interdependent tasks requiring continuous coordination.

•The work unit's operations are interdependent with those of other units, and frequent coordination is necessary.

•Disruptions in the workflow are likely due to equipment breakdowns, accidents, technical problems, materials shortages, personnel shortages, bad weather, etc.

•There is danger of hostile actions of outsiders, such as terrorists, criminals, militant demonstrators, fanatics, and enemy military units.

Monitoring is most difficult when the work involves unstructured, unique tasks for which results can be determined only after a long time interval. For example, it is more difficult to evaluate progress in research and development than progress in sales or production. It is more difficult to evaluate the performance of a human resource manager than the performance of a sales manager. Difficulties in monitoring are increased also when a manager is geographically separated from subordinates, and when some subordinates work on different shifts.

Monitoring can take many forms, including observation of operations by a manager (e.g., visiting work facilities, walking around the office or plant), reading written reports, reviewing computer printouts or displays, inspecting the quality of samples of the work unit's products, surveying clients or customers to assess their satisfaction, and holding meetings after an activity or project is completed to determine what went well and what can be improved the next time. A common form of monitoring is the progress review meeting between a manager and an individual subordinate. Progress reviews are an essential component of management by objectives and other goal-setting programs.

Progress Review Meetings

Progress review meetings provide an opportunity for a manager and subordinate to review and discuss the subordinate's progress in rela-

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tion to goals and action plans. The meetings are not a substitute for daily and weekly discussions about problems and issues in the work; rather, they provide a perspective on overall progress with respect to the various projects and activities carried out by the subordinate. Progress reviews are not intended to be performance appraisal sessions.

Rather, they are opportunities for exchanging information, providing feedback, clarifying expectations, providing coaching, and conducting mutual problem solving. Having formal progress review meetings enables a manager to monitor a subordinate's progress and discover if the person is on target in progress toward achievement of performance goals. If any problems are detected, the meetings are useful for discovering causes and finding solutions. Thus, progress review meetings provide a variety of potential benefits:

•Facilitate correction of performance problems early before they get worse.

•Help a manager to determine if a subordinate needs additional coaching or assistance.

•Improve manager-subordinate communication.

•Provide an opportunity to review the feasibility of goals and actions plans and make revisions as necessary.

•Facilitate a manager's efforts to coordinate the activities of different subordinates.

•Provide information needed to evaluate whether a manager's own goals and action plans are realistic.

It is difficult to achieve an optimal balance between control and delegation. Progress review meetings enable a manager to monitor subordinate progress without having to supervise too closely on a day-to-day basis. The subordinate is given considerable latitude to deal with problems without interference, yet is free to ask for advice and assistance whenever it is needed.

II. Vocabulary Items

concern n – отношение competitor n – конкурент data n – данные

delay n – задержка, приостановка disruption n – подрыв, срыв

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expenditure n – расход

failure n – неудача, неуспех, провал feedback n – обратная связь

issue n – проблема, вопрос monitoring n – проверка

mutual a – взаимный, обоюдный

outsider n – посторонний (человек), не принадлежащий к данному учреждению

peer a – равный

productivity n – производительность, продуктивность project n – проект, план, программа

quality n – качество quantity n – количество reward n – вознаграждение sample n – образец

shortage n – нехватка, недостаток, дефицит subordinate n – подчиненный

superior n – начальник supervise v – наблюдать

target v – намечать, планировать trend n – направление, тенденция

III. Exercises

1.Read the text.

2.Learn the vocabulary items by heart.

3.Translate the text in written form.

4.Retell the text using the following expressions and terms: performance of individual subordinates, concerns of customers and clients, market trend, to formulate and modify objectives (strategies, procedures), to guide the behavior toward subordinates (peers, superiors, outsiders), to experience failure, to detect problems, to evaluate the performance, to visit work facilities, to walk around the office or plant, to review computer printouts or displays, to inspect the quality of samples of the work unit's products, to survey clients or customers, progress review meeting, to provide a perspective on overall progress, to provide feedback, to clarify expectations, to provide coaching, to conduct mutual problem solving.

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