Oral conversational topics on business English language

Oral conversational topics on business English language

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ ТА НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

Київський національний економічний університет

Криворізький економічний інститут

МЕТОДИЧНІ ВКАЗІВКИ

до вивчення усних розмовних тем

з ділової англійської мови

для студентів IV курсу фаху “Міжнародна економіка”

Кривий Ріг 2003

Методичні вказівки до вивчення усних розмовних тем з англійської мови для студентів курсу фаху МЕ. – Кривий Ріг, КЕІ КНЕУ. – 2003р.,- 55 с.

Авторський колектив:   ст. вик. Братанич О.Г.

викл. Дмитрієв Д.Ю.

викл. Бреддік Дж.

Студенти 4 курсу:

Артем’єва С.

Сербіна Я.

Старикова Г.

та інші

За заг. редакцією: завідувача кафедри, д.п.н., проф. Скидана С.О.

Рецензент: к.п.н., доцент Соловйова Н.Д.

Відповідальний за випуск: проф. Скидан С.О.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

In using the textual material one should at the outset carefully read and try to understand, using the dictionary where necessary. One should not try to translate every sentence into Russian rather one should try to understand the situation in which various expressions are used as well as to pay attention to the context. However, instances which the author considers hard to understand are pointed out. Having understood the meaning of an expression related to the topic the student learns it completely by heart with the articles, prepositions, verb – forms and so on.

In order to use a word, its form must first be learned; and making the new word part of one's vocabulary may require a great deal of practice to gain fluency in speech and rapid understanding. The emphasis therefore, should be on learning to use words rather than merely on grasping their meaning. One bit of general advice: fluency in language depends to a very large degree on the expression model that one may be able to think of in a specific situation. Sentence or utterances that one has learnt in connection with a specific situation are likely to suggest themselves again as models if you are in similar situation.

Sentences and utterances learned without being associated with anything are not likely to occur to you again. It is thus quite helpful and important to learn to associate utterances with situation.

One should, of course, get into the habit of thinking of possible foreign language utterances in situations in which one may find oneself.

O.G. Bratanich

marketing – a). the theory or practice of presenting, advertising and selling things; b). the division of a company that does this. provide – to make smth available for smb to use by giving or lending it. utility - the quality of being useful possession – the state of having, owning or controlling smth. need – circumstances in which smth is lacking on necessary, or which require smth to be done; a necessity. anticipate – to what is going to happen or what will need to be done and take action to prepare for it in advance. function – a special activity or purpose of a person or thing. purchase – the action or process of buying smth. flow – the flowing movement of smth; a continuous stream of smth. accomplish – to succeed in doing smth; to complete smth. successfully; to achieve smth.

WHAT IS MARKETING?

оral conversational topic еnglish text

When asked to define marketing, most people will say "to advertise a product" or "to sell a good". It's true that selling and advertising are parts of marketing, but there is much more. Marketing provides utility or the value that comes from satisfying human needs. Consumers use utility in many different circumstances in their everyday lives. For instance, we have the right to possess a product or service in exchange for money, which is called possession utility. Also, consumers use utility when they can buy a product or service when they want it, and also at a location where they would like to buy it. The former is called time utility and the latter is referred to as place utility. Production helps us to differentiate between what consumers want by providing form utility or a product produced, and task utility or a service given. Simply put, marketing provides time, place, and possession utility, and guides decisions about what goods and services should be produced to provide form utility and task utility. There are basically two different variants to defining marketing. Micro-marketing focuses on activities performed by an individual organization, and macro-marketing focuses on the economic welfare of a whole society. Both are important when trying to understand what is marketing. The first, micro-marketing, is the performance of activities that seek to accomplish an organization's objectives by anticipating customer or client needs and directing a flow of need-satisfying goods and services from producer to customer or client. Let's take a look at this definition. To begin with, marketing applies to both profit and non-profit organizations. All organizations have some kind or "audience" or "market" that they are trying to satisfy. The point is that all organizations need to practice good marketing techniques to accomplish their objectives and reach their goals. Furthermore, a very important goal of marketing is to identify customers' needs, and meet those needs the best way that organization knows how. If the marketing function has done this, than the product or service will assuredly sell itself In addition, marketing should focus on those needs that were identified, not with production. Marketing should anticipate those needs, and then determine the products or services to be developed. While this sounds like the marketing function leads business activity, this is false. Marketing should direct, not lead other business functions such as accounting, production, and financial activities toward the overall goals of the firm. Finally and most importantly, marketing builds a relationship with customers. A purchase does not mean the end of marketing related activities, on the contrary, it is only the beginning to a long, lasting relationship with customer, and should always look for ways to keep a customer coming back. As all marketers know and understand, it is easier and less costly to keep a customer once they have them, than it is to find them in the first place. This is why relationship marketing is so important. The second, macro-marketing, is a social process that directs an economy's flow of goods and services from producers to consumers in a way that effectively matches supply and demand and accomplishes the objectives of society. Here the emphasis is on the whole system, not the individual organization. Different producers in a society have different objectives, resources, and skills. Likewise, not all consumers share the same needs, preferences, and wealth. So, macro-marketing effectively helps to match supply differences with demand differences, while trying to accomplish a society's objectives. Thus, we can say marketing has two different definitions, dealing with two different levels of the economy.

QUESTIONS

1.        What kind of utility do you know?

2.        What is the difference between micro- and macro- marketing?

3.        What is included in definition “marketing”?

4.        What goal of marketing can you call as a very important one?

5.        How does marketing build a relationship with customers?

6.        How do both micro- and macro- marketing connect with two levels of economy?

7.        What other business functions should marketing direct?

8.        How could the producers foresee the consumers’ needs?

9.        What is the main goal of marketing as a whole?

marketing concept – an idea for a product, especially a new one  marketing orientation – when a business concentrates on designing and selling products that satisfy customer needs in order to be profitable  production-oriented business – when a business bases its ability to make profits on the high quality of its product, rather than on customer’s needs customer satisfaction – a feeling of happiness or pleasure with what customer has got or what customer achieved bottom-line – the figure showing a company’s total profit or loss trade-off – a balance between two situations in order to get an acceptable result

MARKETING CONCEPT

What does the marketing concept mean? Simply put, it means that an organization aims all its efforts at satisfying its customers to achieve profit. Without satisfied customers, a company is without money, and is bankrupt. While this concept seems rather simple, it has not always been applied. This implies a production-oriented business or making whatever products are easy to produce and then trying to sell them. Firms interested in this method think of customers existing to buy the firm's output rather than of firms existing to serve customers and the needs of society. On the other hand, well-managed firms have replaced this production orientation with a marketing orientation. This means trying to carry out the marketing concept. Instead of just trying to get customers to buy what the firm has produced, a marketing-oriented firm tries to offer customers what they need. Three basic ideas are included in the definition of the marking concept: customer satisfaction, a total company effort, and profit, not just sales, as an objective. To begin with, customer satisfaction guides the whole system. Every business function is influenced by the customer the company is trying to satisfy. For instance, the finance department looks to purchase production equipment that will increase the quality of a product, and increase the overall position of the companies profit at the same time. Without customer satisfaction's influence each business function would be working separately toward different goals, thus operating individually and against total unity. Furthermore, teamwork among all managers of a firm is an essential element, because the output from one department may be the input to another. Sometimes departments tend to build walls around themselves in order to protect their own interests. This narrow way of thinking only leads to the customer not receiving enough attention, resulting in a breakdown of the marketing concept. By adopting the marketing concept all departments are provided with a guiding force. It acts as a philosophy for the whole organization, not just an idea that applies to the marketing department. Finally, profit is the bottom-line measure of the firm's success and ability to survive. It is the balancing point that helps the firm determine what needs it will try to satisfy with its total, however costly, effort. Sometimes it may cost more to satisfy some needs than any customers are willing to pay, or it may be much more costly to try to attract new customers than it is to build a strong relationship with-and repeat purchases from-existing customers. This is why firms use profit as the means for survival and success of the marketing concept. In addition, the marketing concept is related to social responsibility and marketing ethics. The marketing concept is so logical that it's hard to argue with it. Yet, when a firm focuses its efforts on satisfying some consumers, to achieve its objectives, there may be negative effects on society. This means that marketing managers should be concerned with social responsibility- a firm's obligation to improve its positive effects on society and reduce its negative effects. Being socially responsible sometimes requires difficult trade-offs. For example, if a firm produces a product that emits harmful chemicals that result in poor environmental standards, should the firm be responsible for the clean up? Also, should all consumers needs be satisfied? For instance, everyone knows that cigarettes cause serious health problems, so should a firm knowingly keeping producing them just because there is a demand for them? These questions and others help us look into how the marketing concept is applied to society.

QUESTIONS

1.   What does the marketing concept mean?

2.   What is the difference between production and marketing orientation?

3.   Which orientation is more profitable for the firm? Why?

4.   What basic ideas are included in the definition of the marketing concept? What is the most important of them? Why?

5.   How can the work of the whole organization be influenced by adopting marketing concept?

6.   How can we determine whether the firm is successful or not? What is the index of the firm’s success?

7.   In what way is the marketing concept related to social responsibility?

8.   Should marketing managers be responsible for the negative effects caused by the marketing concept on the society?

9.   In what way should the marketing managers solve the problem of satisfying consumer’s needs and reducing the negative effects of the marketing concept at the same time?

strategy – the process of planning smth or carrying out a plan in a skilful way. target – an object that a person tries to hit in shooting practice or in certain sports. price – an amount of money for which smth may be bought or sold. place – a particular area or position; a natural or proper position for smth. promotion – advertising or some other activity intended to increase the sale of a product or service. image – a general impression that a person, an organization, a product, etc. gives to the public; a reputation. distribution – the way smth is shared out or spread over an area. brand name – the name given to a particular product by the company that produces it for sale. public relations – the work of presenting a goal image of an organization to the public, esp. by providing information.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Marketing strategy planning means finding attractive opportunities and developing profitable marketing strategies. The marketing concept is the guiding force used when a firm develops the best strategy. There are two defining parts to a marketing strategy, the target market and the marketing mix. Both play a key role in the outcome of a firm's success in a marketing. A target market is defined as a fairly similar group of customers to whom a company wishes to appeal. When determining a target market, a firm must be very specific about whom they will target. Based on certain characteristics such as income, age, job, living habits, physical characteristics, etc. will a firm find the best group of customers and be the most successful in their efforts. Market-oriented firms use the target marketing approach while production-oriented firms use a mass marketing approach. Target marketing says that a marketing mix is tailored to fit some specific target customers. In contrast, mass marketing vaguely aims at everyone with the same marketing mix. Mass marketing assumes that everyone is the same, and considers everyone a potential customer, thus spending great amounts of wasted time and money to try and sell a product or service. A marketing mix is the controllable variables the company puts together to satisfy this target group. Using a marketing mix, a firm answers what, where, how, and how much. These are made up of the four Ps or product, price, place, and promotion

PRODUCT = the goods or the service that you are marketing

A 'product' is not just a collection of components. A 'total product' includes the image of the product, its design, quality and reliability - as well as its features and benefits. In marketing terms, political candidates and non-profit-making public services are also 'products' that people must be persuaded to 'buy' and which have to be 'presented and packaged' attractively. Products have a life-cycle, and companies are continually developing new products to replace products whose sales are declining and coming to the end of their lives.

PRICE = making it easy for the customer to buy the product

Pricing takes account of the value of a product and its quality, the ability of the customer to pay. the volume of sales required, and the prices charged by the competition. Too low a price can reduce the number of sales just as significantly as too high a price. A low price may increase sales but not as profitably as fixing a high, yet still popular, price.

As fixed costs stay fixed whatever the volume of sales, there is usually no such thing as a 'profit margin' on any single product.

PLACE = getting the product to the customer

Decisions have to be made about the channels of distribution and delivery arrangements. Retail products may go through various channels of distribution:

1 Producer —> end-users (the product is sold directly to the end-user by the company's sales force, direct response advertising or direct mail (mail order))

2 Producer —> retailers —> end-users

3 Producer —> wholesalers/agents —> retailers —> end-users

4 Producer —> wholesalers —> directly to end-users

5 Producer —> multiple store groups / department stores / mail order houses —> end-users

6 Producer —> market —> wholesalers —> retailers —> end-users

Each stage must add value to the product to justify the costs: the person in the middle is not normally someone who just takes their 'cut' but someone whose own sales force and delivery system can make the product available to the largest number of customers more easily and cost-effectively. One principle behind this is 'breaking down the bulk': the producer may sell in minimum quantities of, say, 10,000 to the wholesaler, who sells in minimum quantities of 100 to the retailer, who sells in minimum quantities of 1 to the end-user. A confectionery manufacturer doesn't deliver individual bars of chocolate to consumers: distribution is done through wholesalers and then retailers who each 'add value' to the product by providing a good service to their customers and stocking a wide range of similar products.

PROMOTION = presenting the product to the customer

Promotion involves the packaging and presentation of the product, its image, the product's brand name, advertising and slogans, brochures, literature, price lists, after-sales service and training, trade exhibitions or fairs, public relations, publicity and personal selling. Every product must possess a 'unique selling proposition' (USP) -the features and benefits that make it unlike any other product in its market"

These four crucial variables are the foundation of the marketing strategy of any for profit or not for profit organization that uses the marketing concept and drives for success. The customer is not included in the marketing mix, but the customer is the target of all marketing efforts with the four Ps surrounding it. All four Ps are needed in a marketing mix. In fact, they should all be tied together. All four characteristics contribute to one whole. When a marketing mix is being developed, all decisions about the Ps should be made at the same time. That's why the four Ps are arranged around the customer, to show that they are all equally important. A marketing strategy sets a target market and a marketing mix. It is the overall scheme of a firms efforts in a market, however a marketing plan goes further. A marketing plan is a written statement of a marketing strategy and the time-related for carrying out the strategy. First, it details what marketing mix will be offered, to whom the strategy is directed toward, and for how long. Second, it forecasts what company resources, shown in costs, will be needed at what rate. Third, it determines what results are expected shown in sales and profits perhaps monthly or quarterly, customer satisfaction levels, and the like. The plan should also have some control features for whoever is carrying out the plan to see if things are going well or not. Having a plan greatly increases that the marketing strategy will succeed, and the customer will be satisfied.

QUESTIONS

1.        What does marketing strategy planning mean?

2.        There are two defining parts of a marketing strategy: the target market and the marketing mix. How would you characterize them?

3.        Why do they play a key role in the outcome of a firm’s success?

4.        What components does marketing mix include and how can they influence the product’s position on the market?

5.        What is the difference between definitions “marketing concept” and “marketing strategy”?

6.        What channel of distribution do you think is more effective? Why?

foreign exchange – money in a foreign currency currency – the system of money used in a country rate – a fixed charge, payment or value risk – the possibility of meeting danger or of suffering harm or loss to distinguish – to recognise the difference between people or things bond – a certificate issued by a government or a company acknowledging that money has been lent to it and will be paid back with interest. portfolio – a set of investments owned by a person, bank, etc. to convert – to change from one form or use to another equity – the value of the shares issued by a company; the ordinary stocks and shares that carry no fixed interest adverse – not favourable, contrary, opposing, harmful

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