Company's Profiles

How many employees has Mitsubishi got? It's got 170,000 employees.

How many manufacturing companies has it got? It's got 66 companies.

How many sales and finance companies has it got? It's got 34 sales and finance companies.

How many customers has IBM Corporation got? It's got 5000000 customers.

How many manufacturing, assembly plants, factories has it got? It's got great many of them.

How many subsidiaries does Philips have? It's got 120 subsidiaries.

Does it have a subsidiary in the UK? Yes, it does.

What's your company's main strength?

We produce high quality products. We use the most advanced technology. We are in close contact with the market. We produce a wide range of products. We invest a lot of money in research and development. We have sales reps all over the world. Our prices are very competitive. We are market leaders.

Company's Problems

I. You are having a colleagues meeting to discuss some of your company's problems. Take it in turns to start discussions on these subjects.

Problem		Alternatives
company English classes	- employ a teacher	send a staff to a language school
the paperwork	- buy another computer	recruit a secretary
company cars	- rent them	buy them
the pay deal	- offer a 10% salary increase	offer a 5% and a productivity bonus
office cleaning	- employ cleaners	contract the work out
the new sales job	- promote someone	contact a recruitment agency

II. Your company must reduce its running costs by l 1,000,000. Look at the proposals below and decide what to do. Estimated Saving

1. Cut the research and development budget - by 5% L 400 000.

2. Cut the staff training budget - by 10% L 200 000.

3. Cut the advertising budget - by I0% L 350 000.

4. Stop all donations to charity - 100 000.

5. Make the company security staff redundant and subcontract the work: L 150 000.

6. Close the company health centre: L 100 000.

7. Cancel the plans to buy:

- new production machinery L 200 000;

- new electronic equipment L 150 000.

COMPANY RESULTS

Here is a short review of the Company's main activities last year. I'm going to divide my review into three areas: firstly, financial, secondly -personnel, and thirdly- technology.

On the financial front the results have been very encouraging (pleasing): turnover has increased by 14 per cent, costs have dropped by per cent, and profits are up by 16 per cent. So the company as a who has performed well. Export sales have done very well especially in America, our largest export market. The domestic consumer market has been very competitive, and will continue to be so. To my regret, our results in this market have been rather disappointing – just I per с as compared with last year.

Now, the personnel. Our policy of personnel development through training and promotion opportunities has been a great success. We ha actually recruited 72 new staff members, while 20 have retired; so there's a net balance of 52. The training department has expanded соnsiderably, and moved into new areas such as quality assurance and sales training.

Finally, technology. I suppose it's no exaggeration to say that our technological thought is on the upgrade (upsurge), and our Research Department is trying to do its best to make a scientific contribution to the production process of the Company. Over the last year, our Research Department has tested a new prototype engine. Results so far look very promising. We have also invested heavily in a European technology programme which links industry with universities.