14. Speak on:

1. The way information technology has changed.

2. The aim of any competitive strategy.

3. Different types of transactions.

15. Read and act out the dialogue:

A: Hi! Have you checked your email lately?

B: No. Why?

A: I emailed you a page from Amazon.com. I was ordering a book on-line on business correspondence and they had a link to some other business books. I know you’ve been looking for something on charts and graphs, so I emailed them to you

B: Thanks. Which Usenet groups do you like?

A: I like to keep up with computer technology so I go to the Mac and IBM PC groups. But I also explore other sites.

B: The newspapers of the future will be beamed from our computer onto reusable electronic paper – I saw a TV program on it. I guess we’ll have to throw out our computers and buy new ones.

A: That doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been doing that every two years anyway.

16. Work in pairs. Take part in the discussion “Computers and Marketing”:

Take part in a seminar conducted by analysts from the USA and Russia. Share your experience in using computers.

Unit seven High-Tech Skills

BEFORE READING

Vocabulary

1. Try to guess the meaning of the following words. Use the dictionary if you need.

aging n arrogant a

brainy a embryonic a

emerge v entrepreneur n

fuzziness n ingenious a

market-niche (strategy) pitfall n

portfolio (strategy) slender a

startup n survive v

venture n

2. Match the Russian expressions with the English ones:

1.key areas а) заработать наличные

2.single-minded в) целеустремленный

3.long-term plan с) второе поколение

4.generate cash d) долгосрочный план

5.second generation е) ключевые области

GRAMMAR FOCUS WORD BUILDING

3. Translate the following words paying attention to the suffixes and prefixes:

Typical - typically; rare - rarely; above - average, adopt – adoption; place-replacement; consider – consideration - considerable; coolant - intercooler.

READING

4. Read the text and answer the following question:

What is a professional manager supposed to be good at?

High-Tech Skills

One thing is clear. Technology, venture capital and enthusiasm are not enough. Basic management skills, especially in such key areas, as marketing and finance, are at least as important in a new high-tech venture as in the more common low-tech firms. High-tech entrepreneurs – typically young, brainy, single-minded and arrogant - rarely possess such skills. The problem is that high technology requires above-average management. Too often in small companies it’s below average.

The points at which high-tech ventures rise and fall come under four categories:

• Entrepreneurs must understand that a product of technology, no matter how ingenious, will not sell itself. Usually, you must adopt a market-niche strategy to survive;

• a reasonably long-term plan, including product strategy, is essential for continuity and growth. It must continually be revised and updated;

• the ability to relate to people, delegate responsibility and bring in professionals at the proper time at key attributes;

- discipline and monitoring systems, especially in finance, are vital.

The high-tech manager needs to have one foot in the lab and one foot in the market place. She\he must understand the technology and be able to ask the right questions but also be capable of getting close to the market and to customers.

A kind of fuzziness is typical of high-tech startups. It comes from the lack of understanding of what the market for a particular product is.

One of the biggest problems is not understanding business strategy. You can not just introduce products one after another.

There has to be a “portfolio strategy”. You need aging products that require no investment but which will generate cash to fund embryonic products. That’s very hard to do and it’s essential to have experienced management. One of the pitfalls of many firms is that once they have succeeded in a certain product line, they try to develop a new product line without continuing to improve the old one. But developing second generation products and getting them to market is becoming difficult. As technologies grow more complex and new ones emerge, development costs are rising and product life cycles are shortening. The chances of generating enough funds from a first product to finance a second product are very slender.

5 Agree or disagree using the expressions:

For agreement: For disagreement:

It really looks like that I’ve got some reasons to disagree

I fully agree with you here You can’t be serious!

1. Young entrepreneurs have good management skills.

2. High-technology requires below-average management.

3. A long-term plan should be revised from time to time.

4. Discipline in finance and business are not very important.

5. It’s good practice to develop a new product without improving the old one.

6. Complete the following sentences:

1. High-tech entrepreneurs are a) vital to survive

2. Basic management skills are b) rise

3. Managers need knowledge of c) arrogant and brainy.

4. Development costs always d) a first product

5. Portfolio strategy aims at e) technology and market

generating funds from

GET TALKING

7. Work in pairs. Discuss the following:

1. If ingenious products will sell themselves.

2. If technical development leads to the continual introduction of new products.

3. If product life cycles are lengthening.

4. The common pitfalls.

8. Imagine you are a manager. Think of the principal problems affecting the performance of a business team. Look at a list given below. Give the order of your priorities. Discuss it with your partner.

a) fluctuating (неустойчивые) exchange rates;

b) cost of labor;

c) managerial talent;

d) new competitors;

e) government intervention;

f) trade barriers;

g) keeping pace with new technologies;

h) inflation;

i) low economic grow;

j) investment capital;

k) automation and computerization;

l) cost of material;

m) short working hours;

n) environment protection