Marriott international corporation

Marriott International Inc. is one of the largest hotel and restaurant organizations in the U.S. The company, founded by John Willard Marriott in 1927, opened its first hotel in 1957. Since then, it has grown into an international company, with more than 2,300 hotels and restaurants in 60 countries. The company's sales amounted to $19.8 billion in 2004 and its profits rose 11% to $922 million.

Marriott International plans to increase the number of its hotels in Russia. Now, this company manages four hotels in Moscow. It owns 49% of the Renaissance Moscow Hotel, and three other hotels in Moscow operate under the Marriott brand name.

Company president Bill Marriott said: "Russia is a very attractive market for hotel operators, which especially cater to¹ business travelers who want and need a full range of high quality services in the hotel in order to be successful in their business." Marriott International's global strategy is to be represented in all big cities and resorts with their upper-tier² hotels. Bill Marriott said that the Moscow hotels have their own customer base³ and a position in the market. The company is interested in establishing presence in St. Petersburg. It also sees some potential in mid-priced hotels in cities such as Nizhniy Novgorod, Samara, and Kazan.

Bill Marriott travels 240,000 kilometers a year visiting company enterprises. He says: "I want our colleagues to know that there really is a guy named Marriott, who cares about them, and he can drop by⁴ to personally tell them so. I also want to show our team that I value their work."

Notes: ¹to cater to – обслуживать

²upper-tier – высшего разряда

³customer base – клиентская база

⁴to drop by – заходить, заезжать

Economic problems of developing countries

There are some 5 billion people in the world and the majority of them live in developing countries. A developing country is a country, in which the average standard of living is very low compared with living standards in North America and Western Europe.

Major problems facing developing countries are as follows:

▪ Low-productivity agriculture

In low-income countries, 70% or more of the labor force works on the land. Tractors and other types of mechanical farm equipment are very scarce¹. The output per worker² in agriculture is extremely low compared with that in Europe and North America.

▪ Poor natural resources

Many developing countries have very poor supplies of natural resources. Many of them have soil lacking in fertility³, large desert areas, and climates, which are not favorable to high productivity because they are too dry or too hot.

▪ A scarcity⁴ of fixed capital⁵

Most developing countries lack electricity supplies, water supplies, transport and farming equipment, good roads and railways, port facilities and other capital goods. They have very little modern technology.

▪ Large-scale unemployment

In the great majority of developing countries, the rate of population growth is very much higher than it is in developed countries. The rapid growth of population has been accompanied by a large-scale movement of people from the rural areas to the towns and cities. This has created serious unemployment problems, especially among the younger age groups. Underemployment⁶ is also a serious problem. For example, ten people may be employed in a job for which only six are needed.

Notes: ¹scarce – недостаточный

²output per worker – индивидуальная выработка, выработка на одного рабочего

³fertility - плодородие

⁴scarcity – недостаток, дефицит

⁵fixed capital – основной капитал, недвижимый капитал (недвижимость, оборудование и т. п.)

⁶underemployment – неполное использование рабочих ресурсов