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Файл:English for Special Purposes. Language of Chemistry. Tutorial
.pdf
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3. INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEWSPAPER ANALYSIS52
1) Find a newspaper article that interests you. Give the title and date.
2) Summarise the main points of the article in your own words. (3-5
bullet points or sentences)
3) State the purpose of the article. Note that many articles may have
multiple purposes (e.g. to entertain and persuade). Identify what you
consider to be the main purpose, explaining your reasons in part 4 if
necessary.
To entertain
To inform
To persuade
To examine/explore an issue
To describe/report
To instruct
4) Explain your choice of purpose by quoting word(s) or phrase(s) from
the article to support your answer to part 3.
5) Identify the tone of the article. [Note that many articles will contain a
variety of tones. You should identify one significant tone, or the tone
which seems to pervade the article.]
6) Justify your choice of tone with evidence from the text. Quote words
or phrases from the article and analyse how they create the tone you
identified in part e)
7) Identify 3 techniques which have been employed by the writer.
Analyse each technique and explain its purpose or effect.
8) Quote 3 words from the article that are unfamiliar to you. Look up and
provide their definitions from a dictionary or www.dictionary.com. Many
words have several definitions. Be certain to only provide the definition
appropriate to the context in which the word is used in the passage. [If you
cannot find 3 words that are unknown to you, choose 3 words which you
think are particularly complex, sophisticated or interesting, and look up
their dictionary definitions.]
9) Think about the ideas, opinions or issues involved in the article you
have read. Write a short personal response to the article – what is your
opinion or reaction to the topic/issue? What questions does it make you
ask? Do you agree or disagree with the article’s stance? What did you
find interesting, puzzling or informative about the article?
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4. INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPARATIVE NEWSPAPER ANALYSIS53
a) Choose a news story which has been reported in both the Daily Mail
and The Guardian. Provide a link to each.
b) Write a brief summary (4-6 sentences) of the incident/topic both articles
are reporting on.
c) Write a short analysis of the difference in the two headlines. How are they
different? What choices have been made in selecting the headlines?
d) Comment on the differences between the two articles under the
following headings. Support your answer with quotations.
e) Explain which article you prefer and why. You may make your decision
based on any criteria you choose (e.g. how entertaining /clear /informative/
stylish the article was) as long as you make it clear what criteria you have
judged the articles on. Support any statement you make with quotations.
1. CONTENT & DETAIL: What extra details does one article offer over
the other? What details have been missed out?
2. VOCABULARY / COMPLEXITY OF LANGUAGE- How complex
is the language of each article? What words in particular are usual or
interesting? Is there any technical jargon?
3. TONE - What is the tone of each article? If they are different, consider why.
4. ATTITUDE / STANCE / BIAS OF THE WRITER- Does the writer
of either article have an agenda or preference? How can you tell? Can
you identify the newspaper's bias in the article (Guardian = left-wing;
Daily Mail = right-wing)?
5. ACCOMPANYING PHOTO(S), ILLUSTRATIONS, GRAPHICS,
GRAPHS - What graphics are included with each article? How does
the choice of accompanying images reflect the articles' differences?
Does the choice of photo/illustration influence the way the story is
being presented?
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APPENDIX II.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING ON CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
PERSPECTIVES
TEXT 1. CHEMICALS TRENDS IN 2015 54
Global sales of chemicals more than doubled over the last decade, hitting
a record (americanchemistry.com). Emerging economies drove a large share of
these gains, most notably in China, where chemicals sales expanded at an
average compound annual rate of 26% over that period. Growth in basic
chemicals, which make up nearly two-thirds of the industry, also benefited
from the general uplift in oil and gas prices. Nevertheless, at the same time, the
chemicals industry is going through a tremendous period of change that will
help define opportunities and challenges in both the short and the long term.
Among these disruptions: The nature and role of chemicals innovation
has continued to move away from the blockbuster breakthroughs that
characterized the late 20th century, and toward more incremental advances
targeted at new solutions for particular problems. We’ve seen the increased
commercialization of alternative manufacturing technologies, such as
converting coal to liquids and gas to liquids. Manufacturing footprints have
changed to take advantage of new shale gas supplies. In addition, finally, new
customers are emerging in a wider variety of regions and markets.
To succeed in this shifting landscape, chemicals companies need to
focus their strategic thinking on three areas:
1. Adapting and refining their business models and manufacturing
footprints;
2. Identifying growth opportunities in emerging markets — which,
especially for Western companies, will require a new mind-set;
3. Harnessing the potential of digital technologies to capitalize on the next
wave of value creation.
RETOOLING BUSINESS MODELS
Although markets and requirements for success have changed
dramatically in recent years, many companies in the chemicals sector
continue to falter under the weight of antiquated business models and go-tomarket approaches. For some chemicals firms, the problem is manifested in
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overinvestment in specialty chemicals businesses that have offered
differentiation and higher margins in the past but that are rapidly
commoditizing. Other companies have been too myopic, cutting costs in
specialty lines that would actually benefit from more nurturing, innovation,
and focused investment. In some cases, chemicals companies have been late
in recognizing the credible threat from lower-cost capacity built in Asia
over the last decade, rendering themselves uncompetitive in these regions,
often after they have installed costly assets in commoditized marketplaces.
Frequently, these actions reinforce one another and companies end up in a
death spiral, forced to close or divest businesses.
To avoid this fate, chemicals companies need to more deliberately
adjust their business models not only across different lines of businesses
within their portfolios, but within the businesses themselves, to keep pace
with the changing requirements of distinct subsectors. This retooling
process should start with the answers to three questions:
How differentiated are the company’s current products? Managers
should assess which products are unique in the marketplace, which are
moderately distinctive, and which are indistinguishable from competitors’
offerings. They should also gauge whether increased levels of service could
incrementally differentiate some products.
How intense is the competition? Companies should determine how
many suppliers exist in a given market, and whether the primary basis for
competition in the market is low cost, increased customization and
innovation, or superior customer service.
What are the key operational imperatives? Companies should assess
whether market needs can be best addressed by running a plant at full
capacity or by operating more flexibly to produce more customized and
distinctive products. Should the operational imperative be quality and
reliability, or is there greater advantage in tailoring the production process to
satisfy unique customer requirements?
Business model innovation depends on selling existing products to a
variety of markets differently, while taking into account specific market
realities in each region. By answering these questions, managers can shape
and align the components of their business model to address the key
components of their overall strategy:
how the company’s value proposition compares with competitive options
in the marketplace;
how changing revenue streams and market shifts will affect the company
over the next one to three years;
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whether the company’s cost structure is appropriate; which businesses
require investment and which need pruning;
what core capabilities, processes, and competencies are required to
prosper in the market;
how the company can best align market demand, revenue streams, and
cost structures to increase profitable growth.
TAKING THE LEAD IN EMERGING MARKETS
Future growth of the chemicals industry will be driven by developing
markets, where gains are likely to range from 6 to 10%, compared with 2 to
3% in developed economies. Global chemicals companies have been trying
hard to tap into this booming business, but most have found they losing in a
head-to-head rivalry with local players, for both supply and demand reason.
On the supply side, nascent domestic companies are advancing rapidly
along the learning curve, and are already highly competitive with multinationals.
They typically have a lower cost base, display greater agility, and decisionmaking flexibility, and are delivering acceptable value to customers. On the
demand side in emerging markets, volume growth is shifting from exportoriented businesses to companies catering to local customers; these companies
are highly price sensitive, and perceive Western firms as uncompetitive. Very
few of these domestic businesses are interested in premium chemicals, and
typically they strive for 70 to 80% of product functionality at 50% of the price
point in Western countries. In addition, demand is shifting to regions that are
difficult to access owing to under- or undeveloped infrastructure.
To successfully compete against local players, global chemicals
companies need to invest in organic capabilities tailored to developing
markets’ varied characteristics. These include focusing on where to compete
and avoiding a “one size fits all” approach; developing local sales and market
support to ensure that customer preferences and requirements are captured
appropriately and translated into market-specific product development;
keeping manufacturing costs low enough to be competitive; and tailoring
supply chains to balance agility and efficiency. Redesigned operating models
must optimize both global and regional objectives and skills, leveraging the
company’s knowledge and experience obtained in developed markets while
ensuring agility in adapting to local needs.
Succeeding in emerging markets often requires a mind-set different
from what Western companies are accustomed to. To innovate effectively,
multinationals must understand the cost and product preferences not just of
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immediate customers, but also of the entire downstream value chain. This
requires local innovation and local resources — and the attraction, retention,
and development of high-quality talent. Consequently, multinationals need to
offer prospective local employees a compelling and attractive brand that can
compete with domestic companies in work–life balance, global career paths,
and meaningful leadership opportunities.
EMBRACING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
By 2020, an estimated 50 billion devices around the globe will be
connected to the Internet. Perhaps a third of them will be computers,
smartphones, tablets, and TVs. The remaining two-thirds will be sensors,
actuators, and newly invented intelligent devices that monitor, control,
analyze, and optimize our world. The arrival of the “Internet of Things”
(strategy+business) represents a transformative shift for industry - indeed, for
the overall global economy - similar to the introduction of the PC.
Chemicals companies have invested billions in automation and
information technology. These investments have increased reliability,
reduced costs, and created greater operational efficiencies in production and
supply chain management. We believe the next frontier of value creation in
the chemicals industry can be reached by realizing the metamorphic potential
of the digital revolution that has only just begun.
PwC recently completed its Breakthrough Innovation and Growth
(pwc.com) survey of nearly 1,800 C-suite executive-level respondents,
including some 50 chemicals industry participants from 12 countries. Ninetyfive percent of chemicals industry respondents said they foresaw digital
technology innovation at their company over the next three years, and 50
percent expected breakthrough or radical advances. We see companies making
digital moves in four areas:
Performance and agility. Nearly all the equipment employed in the
manufacture, storage, and transportation of chemicals can be retrofitted or
redesigned with digital technologies to improve performance. For example,
pumps and compressors can have sensors that signal when a problem or failure is
imminent, preventing costly outages. We are seeing other process industries take
the lead on this front, such as utilities investing in smart grids and oil and gas
companies designing digital oil fields. There is a clear opportunity for chemicals
industry leaders to partner with leading vendors in leveraging intelligent devices
and achieving the next generation of performance and agility.
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Customer interface. Frontline, customer-facing staff who are able to
access and integrate the massive flows of data that digital technologies provide
can become business partners with customers rather than mere salespeople.
Agribusiness has been an early adopter. For example, in 2013 Monsanto
acquired Climate Corporation, a software, and data science firm. We see this as
a big step forward into the age of precision agriculture, in which chemicals
companies will work with farmers to integrate cheap sensors that constantly
monitor soil conditions, satellite imagery, and market price data to create
customized, soil-specific solutions for maximizing crop yield and profitability.
Innovation. Digital technologies are creating structural changes in the
ecosystem of most of the sectors that the chemicals industry serves, such as
automotive and electronics. The flexibility of 3D printing, for example, enables
manufacturers to make customized parts more quickly and at lower scale to
meet dynamic customer requirements. As this disruption penetrates the market,
the infrastructure for plastic parts molding and fabrication will look far
different from the current arrangement of extrusion molders that offer only
limited degrees of customization without significant capital investment.
Furthermore, 3D printing will require new materials with unique or modified
properties. Collectively, these shifts will favor chemicals companies that can
innovate quickly, draw accurate customer insights, and manage complexity.
Organization. Many internal processes of chemicals companies – such
as HR and supply chain planning – are fragmented and scattered across
different geographies, reducing efficiency. To counter this pattern, companies
increasingly are using collaboration platforms to coordinate global activities
and to drive more seamless employee and customer experiences. However,
we believe the potential for organizational transformation goes well beyond
better collaboration. The ubiquitous availability of data can flatten
organizations – devolving decision rights to local regions and creating new
forms of organization that will make chemicals companies nimbler, leaner,
and more exciting workplaces for a new generation of employees. Integrating
and centralizing enterprise-wide data, for instance, can enable companies to
apply predictive analytics to streamline supply chains, and can also boost the
speed, responsiveness, and profitability of R&D programs.
The current environment of uncertain GDP growth and shifting market
dynamics presents challenges for chemicals companies, but it also offers
opportunities. By retooling their business models, focusing on emerging markets,
and embracing digital transformation, forward-looking companies can position
themselves to outperform their peers and build market share in the years ahead.
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TEXT 2. OIL AND GAS TRENDS IN 2015 55
Leave the worrying about the highs and lows of oil prices to obsessed
analysts and headline writers. That volatile aspect of the energy business is
largely out of the control of industry leaders.
Instead, oil and gas companies (producers or refiners) whose strategic
future is still a puzzle should be asking a couple of simple questions, mostly
divorced from the cost of oil: Where do we go to lock in demand? Are we
prepared to thrive in a business environment that is oversupplied? If both
questions are adequately – and, in some cases, fearlessly – addressed, oil
and gas companies should be able to forge a pathway for success, no matter
how uncertain the prices for their products.
The ground in the oil patch has shifted dramatically. The forecast for the
industry is extremely different today compared with how it looked just a couple
of years ago, when the fundamentals of the oil industry were controlled by
cartels. That traditional structural discipline has been replaced by a systemic
imbalance marked by vastly increased supply and receding demand growth.
Global economic weakness (in particular, slower growth in China and
continuing financial woes in Europe); tougher fuel economy regulations;
more viable forms of alternative energy; and the development of
extraordinarily efficient engines on equipment as varied as cars, earthmovers,
and power plants have all combined to dramatically curtail the need for oil.
Meanwhile, robust new reserves, especially of shale oil, in numerous regions
around the world are glutting the market. The increase in the supply of
petroleum and other liquid fuels was twice that of consumption.
Little surprise, then, that the U.S. Energy Information Administration
estimates that in 2014 the increase in the global supply of petroleum and
other liquid fuels was almost twice the increase in consumption. That was a
recipe for lower prices and shrinking profits. Moreover, it presents a troubling
outlook for oil giants such as ExxonMobil, BP, Total, Chevron, and Shell that
invested tens of billions of dollars in oil exploration when prices were high
but did not enjoy a concomitant boost in production or profit margins.
However, they’ve slimmed down by shedding unprofitable units and
cutting back on investment more recently, these companies still face-increased
competition from an array of state-owned oil companies and independents.
Fortunately, the picture is a little bit brighter in the gas sector: Global demand
for natural gas is expected to have risen by 2.2% per year by the end of 2019,
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according to the International Energy Agency. Yet although natural gas will
likely continue to represent an increased share of the global energy mix, a
share growing by 2.4% annually until 2018, analysts expect production to
exceed demand in the short term.
ADJUSTING TO THE NEW REALITY
As oil and gas producers examine questions about locking in demand
and thriving during a period of oversupply, they will inevitably also ask
themselves: Do we need to improve the efficiency of our operation or adjust
our portfolio? Some companies that we have worked with have chosen to
evaluate whether they are “fit for 50” (as in US$50/barrel), which is like
being healthy enough to run an ultra marathon even if you may not need to
run one. However, even if being fit for 50 seems too draconian, oil and gas
companies, emerging from a period of high growth and rapid expansion into
an era of oversupply, must now redirect their efforts. Their primary focus
now should be on driving capital and operating efficiency to preserve their
margins and maintain the reinvestment rates necessary to grow production.
Though it may be surprising, the industry has demonstrated the ability
to be innovative and to lower costs when necessary. Producers and refiners
have harnessed new technological advances, such as digitization, robotics,
and analytics, to squeeze out higher volumes with less investment. But these
digital breakthroughs have not often extended to “above the ground” parts of
the operation; for example, the logistics of water and waste management in
shale oil fields are far from best in class, and lean manufacturing techniques
are seldom used by upstream operators. It’s necessary now to tackle these
shortcomings and other similar ones. In doing so, oil and gas companies can
confront oversupply with increased efficiency and reduced costs.
Additionally, oil and gas producers need to carefully evaluate their
portfolios, field by field, to ensure that each operation is a good fit for the
company’s core strengths, customer demographics, and preferences and skill
sets. Only a few companies will successfully shore up demand and improve
margins by consolidating their strongest assets, yet in our view it is an
essential element of survival in the energy industry today.
For downstream players, guaranteeing a buyer for their product is
everything; the need to confront demand challenges head-on cannot be
underestimated. North American and European markets are shrinking to the
point where they can no longer absorb all of the oil and gas refined in the
region (the U.S. now exports more than 1 million barrels per day of energy
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products). Increasingly, refiners must look beyond their borders for
customers. Nevertheless, what they inevitably find in global markets is fierce
competition from the Middle East and other longtime exporters that have
built large modern refineries hoping to serve Asian demand. To compete
effectively in this environment, downstream companies must either secure
more robust and long-term relationships with established and new customers
or seek out smaller niche markets to avoid head-to-head rivalries that have
the potential to destroy their profit margins.
The biggest mistake that oil and gas companies can make in this
difficult business landscape is to focus solely on reducing costs (either
operating or general and administrative) and spending; this strategy is
effective only in a very narrow range of market conditions and rarely
effective enough to make businesses successful over the long term. Rather,
companies should carefully consider the supply of assets, analyze the
logistics of accessing available markets, and ensure a long-term presence in
these markets without getting into a bidding war. Oversupply and lower
prices represent a real challenge to the industry, but that doesn’t mean the
future is all gloom. It just means that producers and refiners need to be
prepared and adopt strategies that take advantage of the new reality.
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