ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ АГЕНТСТВО ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ РФ

ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ

ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

«ВОЛГОГРАДСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»

ФАКУЛЬТЕТ ЛИНГВИСТИКИ И МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ

КАФЕДРА ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ ИНОЯЗЫЧНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ

О.А. МАЛЕТИНА, О.В. АТЬМАН

ECONOMIC ISSUES THROUGH

READING NEWSPAPERS IN ENGLISH

УЧЕБНОЕ ПОСОБИЕ

ВОЛГОГРАД 2005

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Настоящее учебное пособие предназначено для работы на практических занятиях по английскому языку (аспект «Газета») со студентами экономических специальностей 2-5 курсов.

В современном мире, где профессиональная коммуникация является его неотъемлемой частью, специалист-экономист может ощущать «информационный голод», поскольку по причине недостаточного уровня владения иностранным языком у него отсутствует доступ к необходимым сведениям и данным, которые можно получить из достоверных иноязычных источников – газет, журналов – таких, как “The Financial Times”, “The Economist” и ряда других.

Следовательно, задача современного преподавателя – обучить студентов-экономистов чтению, пониманию, переводу газетного материала с иностранного языка на русский, а также общению на профессиональные темы на иностранном языке. Соответственно, цель настоящего учебного пособия – сформировать у студентов навыки чтения и понимания иноязычной прессы.

Учебное пособие состоит из 23 уроков, объединенных по следующим экономическим аспектам: менеджмент, банковская сфера, занятость, налогообложение, реклама и др. В пособии представлены аутентичные тексты британской прессы (“The Financial Times”), а разработанные к ним упражнения направлены на понимание содержания самих текстов, извлечение нового лексического материала и его активизацию. В конце каждого урока содержатся творческие задания коммуникативного характера, которые тематически связаны с каждым уроком.

Учебное пособие может быть также полезным при работе со студентами заочных отделений экономических специальностей. В то же время, в зависимости от уровня подготовки группы и желания преподавателя, настоящее пособие может использоваться на занятиях по английскому языку и со студентами неэкономических специальностей.

Contents

ECONOMIC ISSUE: COMPANIES 4

Unit 1 5

Unit 2 9

Unit 3 14

Unit 4 18

Unit 5 22

Unit 6 26

Unit 7 31

ECONOMIC ISSUE: MANAGEMENT 33

Unit 8 37

Unit 9 41

ECONOMIC ISSUE: RISK MANAGEMENT 43

Unit 10 45

Unit 11 49

Unit 12 55

Unit 13 59

Unit 14 65

ECONOMIC ISSUE: ADVERTISING 67

Unit 15 70

ECONOMIC ISSUE: INTERNET ADVERTISING 73

Unit 16 75

ECONOMIC ISSUE: BRAND RELAUNCH 77

Unit 17 80

ECONOMIC ISSUE: BANKING 83

Unit 18 85

ECONOMIC ISSUE: EMPLOYMENT 88

Unit 19 90

ECONOMIC ISSUE: TAXATION 93

Unit 20 94

ECONOMIC ISSUE: FINANCIAL CRIMES 96

Unit 21 99

Unit 22 103

ECONOMIC ISSUE: BUREAUCRACY 105

Unit 23 107

Economic issue: companies

FINANCIAL TIMES NOVEMBER 4 2004

Xerox takes road towards reinvention

Amy Yee reports on the company's vision for its future in the arena of archiving and information management in the digital era

The name Xerox is synonymous with photocopiers, to the extent that dictionaries include the company’s name in their pages.

But in Xerox’s recent print advertisements, there is no image of a copier or, indeed, any equipment at all. Instead, ads carry cryptic text about helping companies access archives containing “millions of pages of R&D” or moving millions of documents on to an intranet to reduce costs.

“There's a new way of looking at things,” the ads proclaim.

Xerox hopes it is a notion that will extend to how people perceive it. The campaign reflects the 98-year-old company’s desire to transform itself from being known as simply a maker of “big box” office equipment to a nimble consultant that helps companies manage information and streamline workflow.

There is a clear impetus for re-branding. “Document management”, though relatively new, is a fast-growing area with a market value of $18bn, says Gartner, the technology consultancy.

Demand comes from companies bogged down by content. “We've done a good job in recent years of creating so many channels of information,” says Stan Lepeak, vice-president at Meta Group, a technology consultancy. “Now there's a huge need to help manage the mess we've made.”

Demand is also rising in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley, the US corporate governance act, and Hippa, the healthcare privacy act, which require companies to document processes more rigorously, and to provide timely access to regulators.

Meanwhile, clients are always keen to cut operational costs.

A revamped Xerox Global Services, which includes a new consulting unit, was launched in 2001 by Anne Mulcahy, group chief executive, to help steer Xerox away from bankruptcy.

Xerox expects Global Services to grow 15-20 per cent this year and at double-digit rates over the next five years. Revenues of the unit were $3.5bn last year, when total group revenues were $15.7bn.

Streamlining workflow can result in cost savings of 10-30 per cent, Ms Mulcahy says. “When it comes to workflow, most customers don't know exactly what they're spending,” she says. “If it is not a good-value proposition, I don't think you'll find a lot of customers willing to spend a lot of money on technology. It has to be a service-led solution.”

Companies are also keen to reduce operational costs.

“Office services are a big area of growth for us because we're playing to the weaker economy,” said Ms Mulcahy. “We're really responding to what custom­ers want to hear, which is that they'll spend money as long as you can demonstrate a bottom-line return.”

Some of the streamlining is tangible, for example, assessing how a corporation produces and manages millions of documents. In this regard, Xerox’s legacy as “The Document Company” – its former corporate logo – comes in handy.

But Xerox is also stepping into new territory of managing information in a digital landscape – for instance, storing documents on an intranet or helping companies comply with federal regulations by leaving a digital paper trail.

“When you can't find the content you need, not only is there a higher overhead cost but also more process inefficiencies,” says Mr Lepeak. “Often companies say: ‘I can’t find the piece of information I need when I need it, or when my customer needs it'.”

Xerox’s role as a hardware manufacturer, however, is not a thing of the past. It invested $868m in research and development last year and will continue to allot 5-6 per cent of revenues on the development of new technology.

The company’s other high-growth areas are in digital commercial printing and digitising the office with “multifunction devices” or networked machines that act as copiers, printers, scanners and faxes. Both areas are being driven by demand for colour printing.

Other document and imaging companies are also eager to help control the flood of information.

Japanese manufacturer Canon, the US market leader in copiers, is stepping up consulting services and investing in software, as is Ikon, a US distributor of office equipment.

Ms Mulcahy says Xerox’s role is different from traditional IT consultants such as IBM and EDS because of its focus on document process.

Rivals such as Canon and Ricoh do not have the service infrastructure to support demands from large global clients, she says.

However, Ms Mulcahy does admit that printer giant Hewlett-Packard poses a threat.

“HP is a traditional competitor in the printing business but it also has aspirations to be a competitor in the document management world.”