Tekhanova_V_Topics_for_discussion_Uch-met_pos

Belarus due to its favourable economic, geographical and geopolitical position, developed industrial and social infrastructure, presence of qualified staff, has all necessary conditions to create FEZ. On the territory of the republic FEZ "Brest", "Minsk", "Gomel-Raton" and "Vitebsk" are functioning.

The free economic zone "Brest" was founded in 1996. It realizes advantages of its geographical position and has a prospect of development as a free customs zone.

The free economic zone "Minsk" is created in the regions of industrial zone "Shabany", settlement of Obchak, National airport "Minsk". The basic strategic aim of FEZ "Minsk" is stimulating creation and development in the zone of productions based on new and high technologies.

The free economic zone "Gomel-Raton" is formed on the basis of research-and-production association "Raton" and 4.3 thousand hectares of contiguous land.

The free economic zone "Vitebsk" is created for a term of 30 years by the Decree of the President.

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The Educational System of Great Britain

The educational system of Great Britain has developed for over a hundred years. It is a complicated system with wide variations between one part of the country and another. Three partners are responsible for the education service: central government - the. Department of Education and Science (DES), local education authorities (LEAs), and schools themselves.

The Department of Education and Science is concerned with the formation of national policies for education. It is responsible for the maintenance of minimum national standard of education.

Local education authorities are charged with the provision and day-to-day running of the schools and colleges in their areas and the recruitment and payment.of the teachers who work in them. They are responsible for the provision of buildings, materials and equipment.

In 1988 the National Curriculum was introduced, which means that there is now greater government control over what

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is taught in schools. Together with the National Curriculum, a programme of Records of Achievements was introduced, which contains a system of new tests for pupils.

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The Main Economic Regions of Britain

In terms of its economic development Britain may be divided into the following economic regions: the South Industrial and Agricultural Region; the Midlands; Lancashire, Yorkshire and the North; Scotland; Wales; Northern Ireland.

The South Industrial and Agricultural Region is the most important region in the country in terms of industry, agriculture and population. At the centre of everything is the City of London. London's industries are extremely varied, among them electrical engineering, instrument production, radio engineering, aircraft production, manufacture of electronics equipment, the motor-car industry.

London is also a great centre of the service industries. Service industries provide employment for twice as many people as manufacturing industries.

The other towns and cities, which are closely connected with the capital in industrial specialization, are Oxford, Cambridge, Luton and Bristol. Luton is a major centre of car production. Bristol is a major centre of the aircraft and automobile industry, as well as the defence industries.

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Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C, the capital of the United States of America, is situated on the Potomac River. Washington does not belong to a state. It is a city and district - the District of Columbia (D.C). The district is a piece of land ten miles square. The city is named in honour of the nation's first President George Washington. The district is named in honour .of Columbus, the discoverer of America. Don't confuse it with the State of Washington, which is located in the north-west of the United States.

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The capital owes very much to the first President of the United States, George Washington. It was Washington who chose the place for the District and laid in 1790 the cor- ner-stone of the Capitol, where Congress sits. It was decided that the new seat of government should be situated on the left bank of the Potomac River, between the states of the North and of the South. The Capitol is the highest building in Washington, an American city without skyscrapers.

Since George Washington's old dream of making the federal city a great centre of trade and industry died its fortunate death more than a century ago, Washington's only big business has been the business of Government.

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Government and the Economy

Although the market system in the United States relies on private ownership and decentralized decision-making by households and privately owned businesses, the government does perform important economic functions. The government passes and enforces laws that protect the property rights of individuals and businesses. It restricts economic activities that are considered unfair or socially unacceptable.

In addition, government programmes regulate safety in products and in the workplace, provide national defense, and provide public assistance to some members of society coping with economic hardship. There are some products that must be provided to households and firms by the government because they cannot be produced profitably by private firms. For example, the government funds the construction of interstate highways, and operates vaccination programmes to maintain public health. Local governments operate public elementary and secondary schools to ensure that as many children as possible will receive an education, even when their parents are unable to afford private schools.

Other kinds of goods and services (such as health care and higher education) are produced and consumed in private markets, but the government attempts to increase the amount of these products available in the economy. For yet other goods

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and services, the government acts to decrease the amount produced and consumed; these include alcohol, tobacco and products that create high levels of pollution.

The government allows private markets to operate, but regulates them.

Text 10 What is Business

Traditionally, business simply meant exchange or trade for things people wanted or needed. Today it has a more technical definition.

One definition of business is the production, distribution, and sale of goods and services. First, production is the creation of services or changing of materials into products. One example is the conversion of iron ore into metal car parts. Next these products need to be moved from the factory to the marketplace. This is known as distribution.

Third is the sale of goods and services. Sale is the exchange of a product or service for money. A car is sold to someone in exchange for money. Goods are products which people need or want. Services are activities which a person or group performs for another person or organization. For instance, an auto-me- chanic performs a service when he repairs a car.

Business, then, is a combination of all these activities: production, distribution and sale. However, there is another important factor. This factor is the creation of profit or economic surplus. Profit is the money that remains after all the expenses are paid. Creating an economic surplus or profit is, therefore, a primary goal of business activity.

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Financial Accounting

The classification of financial accounting transactions reflects the concern with two major interests in financial accounting. The first is addressed to the analysis of the profitability of the business. This is done normally on a yearly basis by compar-

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ing the sale and the purchase transactions and establishing the difference, with either a loss or a profit for the year. A profit will be shown when sale transactions are greater than purchase transactions during the year; a loss will be shown in the reverse case. In financial accounting, the operating cycle is conventionally treated as a period of one year. This suggests that the profit or loss is a short-term analysis of business activities.

The second major interest in financial accounting is directed to the analysis of those transactions having a long-term impact on the firm. These transactions include, on the one hand, investment transactions by which the firm acquires assets of potential use for more than one accounting period, and, on the other hand, financial transactions by which the firm obtains funds for use for more than one year.

Financial accounting brings together investment and financial transactions in a statement of the financial status, or structure, of the enterprise, which is commonly known as the balance sheet.

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Marketing Research and Market Research

Marketing research is a formalized means of acquiring information to assist in the making of marketing decisions. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing research as the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications.

Organizations develop and maintain, products through a continuous process of market research, follow-up with previous customers and interaction with current customers. Marketers utilize research to improve product value to current customers and to find new customers.

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Marketing research (or, alternatively, scholarly research in marketing) always seeks to expand the total knowledge base of marketing. In general, market research attempts to solve a particular company's marketing problem. To evaluate a particular department store's image would be a market research problem. To explore whether department stores have images at all is a marketing (scholarly) research problem. To attempt to determine the best location for a particular warehouse is a market research problem. To attempt to develop a model for locating warehouses in general is a marketing research problem.

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Leadership

Leaders emerge from within the structure of the informal organization. Their personal qualities, the demands of the situation, or a combination of these and other factors attract followers who accept their leadership within one or several overlay structures. Instead of the authority of position held by an appointed head or chief, the emergent leader wields influence or power. Influence is the ability of a person to gain cooperation from others by means of persuasion or control over rewards. Power is a stronger form of influence because it reflects a person's ability to enforce action through the control of a means of punishment.

An individual who is appointed to a managerial position has the right to command and enforce obedience by virtue of the authority of his position. However, he must possess adequate personal attributes to match his authority, because authority is only potentially available to him. In the absence of sufficient personal competence, a manager may be confronted by an emergent leader who can challenge his role in the organization and reduce it to that of a figurehead.

So a leader may occupy a formal position to which he is appointed or he may emerge as a leader in response to the needs of the informal group. Ideally, a manager appointed to a position of authority in the formal organization will possess the necessary personal qualities for leadership.

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