to а (4) ... , perhaps repackaged, and then (5) ... to stores in other countries. 4. Many companies are interested in improving cus­tomer service through better inventory (6)... 5. As a rule, an unpro­ductive (7) ... chain results in a higher total inventory cost. 6. NAVAIR wants logistics data to be converted to digital form for storage in a «virtual» (8) ... facility — a single set of consolidated databases that could be accessed by sailors aboard ship, support en­gineers at shore and program managers.

Упражнение 1. А. Назовите 15—20 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему «Logistics».

В. Speak about:

Problems logistics deals with.

Supplementary texts

To be read after Text 1

Finding Opportunity in the Global Economy

Bill Gates says today if you had to guess (угадать) somebody's approximate income (i.e., money you receive) and you were lim­ited to asking one polite question, a good one would be: «What country do you live in?» That is because of the huge difference in average wages (weekly payment for work) from country to country. But a generation from now, if you want to guess someone's in­come, a more-telling single question might be: «What's your edu­cation?» «This, at least, is my belief», B. Gates says. Future business opportunity will depend on educational opportunity — for everyone.

Compared to almost anything else in a developed society, the cost of investment in education is low — and the returns are high. Even the poorest of countries can develop better schools. Educa­tion is essential because electronic networks and software-driven technologies are beginning to break down the economic barriers between nations. The Internet and the availability of inexpensive, powerful computers are helping spread opportunity to developing nations.

International communication, which is certain to become ex­traordinary¹ cheap in all its forms, will bring suitably educated peo­ple from every economic region into the mainstream of the world economy. Well-educated, enterprising individuals with access to information technology will do well no matter where they live.

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Nearly a billion people in rural China may find their lives little changed for decades, but tens of millions of the best-educated Chi­nese could earn more or less what similarly educated people in the United States or Germany do.

As technology breaks down the barriers of distance and national borders, it will be even more important that everybody be given equal educational opportunities. Eventually, being «poor» won't be much a matter of living in a poor country as it will be a matter of having poor skills.

Assuming you want to develop those skills, what should you study? There are a lot of opportunities in the knowledge-based global economy, and B. Gates is particularly enthusiastic about the business he knows best — software.

Because software is an almost pure expression of logic, the in­dustry is a great field for almost anyone today. Just about every technical and scientific discipline will apply. The business side is equally exciting and challenging² because the industry is so dy­namic. And software jobs are among the highest-paid. It is not a win-lose industry, either. More software development in one re­gion does not mean reduced software development in another. Rather, software development as a whole helps to grow the world economy.

The value and importance of the software industry — and its employees — will continue to grow indefinitely. Software is trans­forming the workplace in industry after industry, increasing pro­ductivity and helping globalize the world economy.

Notes to the Text

unusually

interesting and difficult

To be read after Text 2, 3, 4

Ten Attributes of a Good Employee

Here are 10 of the qualities Bill Gates finds in the «best and brightest» employees the companies should attract and retain.

First, it is important to have a fundamental curiosity¹ about the product of your company or group. You have to use the product yourself.

Second, you need a genuine (настоящий, подлинный) inter­est in discussion with customers about how they use your product,

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what they like or don't like in order to know where your company's product could be better.

Third, once you understand your customer's needs, you have to enjoy thinking through how this product can make work more in­teresting.

These first three points are related. Success comes from under­standing and caring deeply about your products, your technology and your customers' needs.

Fourth, you as an individual employee should develop your own skills and those of the people you work with. If maximizing your next bonus² or salary increase is all that motivates you, you are likely to lose an opportunity to benefit from teamwork³ that creates success in the long term.

Fifth, you need to have specialized knowledge or skills while maintaining a broad perspective. Big companies, in particular, need employees who can learn specialties⁴ quickly, so a willingness to learn is critical.

Sixth, you have to be flexible enough to take advantage of op­portunities that can give you perspective. At Microsoft Co., they try to offer a person lots of different jobs in the course of a career. Anyone interested in joining management is encouraged (поощ­рять) to work in different customer units, even if it means moving within the organization or relocating to a different part of the world. Microsoft Co. has many employees working for their US subsidiaries in other countries. This helps them better understand world markets.

Seventh, a good employee will want to learn the economics of the business. Why does the company do what it does? What are its business models? How does it make money? And a company, in turn, should educate its employees in the fundamental financial re­alities of its industry.

Eighth, you must focus on competitors, i.e., you must think about what is going on in the marketplace. What are your com­pany's competitors doing that is smart⁵? What can we learn from them? How can we avoid their mistakes?

Ninth, you've got to use your head. Analyze problems to under­stand the implications (скрытый смысл, последствия) of poten­tial tradeoffs⁶ of all kinds, including the tradeoff between acting sooner with less information and later with more. Use your head in practical ways. Prioritize your time effectively.

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Finally, don't fail to see the obvious essentials, such as being honest, ethical⁷ and hard working. These attributes are critical and go without saying.

Notes to the Text

strong desire to learn / know about smth.

addition to usual payment

combined effort

special activities, operations, products, etc.

skillful, clever (=quick in learning and understanding things)

compromise, compromising decision, choice

of moral principles

ТЕРМИНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ СЛОВАРЬ

annum - per annum [per'aenem] в год

asset t'aeset] n имущество; активы баланса

В

balance ['baelens] n account ~ ба­ланс счета

belief [bi'lhf] n вера; мнение, убе­ждение

bid [bid] n предложение цены (на аукционе)

bidding ['bidirj n предложение цены

bill [bil] n счет, расходы

bonus ['beunes] n премия, возна­граждение

buyer ['baie] n покупатель

card [ka:d] n карточка; identity удостоверение личности; credit кредитная карточка; smart мно­гофункциональная платежная карточка, чиповая карточка

cash [kaej] п наличные деньги

challenge ['tfaelmdj] п сложная за­дача; проблема; v ставить задачу, сталкиваться с трудностями challenging а сложный, многообе­щающий, перспективный

charge [tfa:cfe] v назначать, запра­шивать цену; взимать плату

cheque Itfek] п чек coin [кэш] п монета coinage ['koinidj] п монетная сис­тема; чеканка монет

commerce ['komes] п торговля (оптовая); коммерция competitor [kem'petite] п конку­рент; участник рынка

compile [kem'pail] v составлять (бюджет); собирать материалы, факты

consumer [ken'sju.me] п потреби­тель

contract ['kontraekt] v заключать договор, сделку, соглашение

corporate ['ко:pent] а корпора­тивный, групповой

curiosity ^kjueri'ositi] л любопыт­ство, любознательность

currency ['kArensi] п валюта customer ['kASteme] п покупатель, заказчик, клиент

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D

demand [di'ma:nd] n спрос

distribution ^distn'bjuijen] n сбыт, реализация

diverse [dai've:s] а различный, разнообразный

division [di'v^en] n подразделение

E

earn [э:п] v зарабатывать

emergency [I'meicfcensi] n чрезвы­чайные обстоятельства

employee [,emploi'i] n служащий; рабочий; работающий по найму

empower [im'paue] v давать право, возможность

encourage [in'kAridj] v поощрять

enterprising ['entepraizirj а пред­приимчивый

ethical ['eGikel] а нравственный, этичный

expenditure [iks'penditfe] n расхо­ды, затраты

expense [iks'pens] n расходы, из­держки; at the ~ of за счет

extraordinary [iks'tro:dnri] а не­обычный, чрезвычайный

F

fee [fj:] n вознаграждение, гоно­рар; взнос, сбор

forecast ['fo:ka:st] n прогноз, предсказание

funds [fAndz] n средства, фонды (денежные)

G

gain [gein] v получать, приобре­тать, добиться

H

handle ['haendl] v управлять; иметь дело с

holder ['heulde] п владелец; credit card владелец кредитной кар­точки

I

income ['тклт] я доход

insurance [m'Juerens] п страхова­ние

interest ['intrist] п процент

intranet [m'traenet] п внутренняя связь

inventory ['inventri] п инвентари­зация; наличные товары (запасы)

investment [investment] п капита­ловложение, инвестиция, вклад invest v вкладывать, делать инве­стиции

issue ['ifu:]['isju] v выпускать в обращение

К

key [kl:] v нажимать кнопку; ~in набирать

L

limit [limit] п credit предель­ный размер кредита

loan [leun] п заем, ссуда

logistics [leu'djistiks] п логистика

М

maintain [mein'tem] v сохранять, поддерживать

manage ['maenicfc] vуправлять, ру­ ководить; money управлять деньгами, управлять финансами

market ['ma:kit] п рынок, сбыт, продажа

marketing ['ma:kitiri] п торговля; предметы торговли; сбыт, прода­жа

memo ['miimeu] п меморандум; служебная записка, памятная за­писка

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