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Supervisory Board monitors the general course of business of the Philips group as well as advising the Board of Management and supervising its policies. These policies are implemented by the Group Management Committee, which consists of the members of the Board of Management, chairmen of most of the product divisions and some other key officers. The Group Management Committee also serves to ensure that business issues and practices are shared across the various activities in the group.

The company creed is “Let’s make things better”. It is committed to making better products and systems and contributing to improving the quality of people’s work and life. One recent example of this is its “Genie” mobile phone. To dial a number, you just have to say it aloud. Its Web TV Internet terminal brings the excitement of cyberspace into the living room. And on travels around the world, whether passing the

Eiffel Tower in Paris, walking across London’s Tower Bridge, or witnessing the beauty of the ancient pyramids of Giza, you don’t have to wonder any more who lit these world famous landmarks, it was Philips.

http://www.news.philips.com.

Ex. 4. Read “The Philips Story” again. Why are these dates important?

Ex. 5. Read “The Philips Story” again and find the figures that correspond to the following pieces of information.

1.The number of people working for Philips worldwide

2.The number of countries with sales and service outlets

3.The number of countries where Philips has research facilities

4.The approximate number of integrated circuits produced every day

Ex.6. Match the words from the text with their corresponding definitions.

Ex. 7. Complete the passage with the given words in the correct form.

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The key to Philips’ success can be described by two words. The first is 1innovation; the company designers are continually developing and creating new products. The second is 2__________; Philips is active in about 100 businesses varying from consumer electronics to domestic appliances and from security systems to semiconductors. With such a wide 3____________ of products the company needs a complex system of management. Each product 4 __________ has its own chairman; most of these chairmen are members of Group Management Committee, which 5_________ all company decisions and plans. The Supervisory Board 6__________

the general business of the group and it also advices and supervises the Board of Management.

Ex.8. Read the information about another worldwide company.

A. Complete the company profile with either the perfect or past simple tense of the verbs in brackets. Pay special attention to irregular verbs.

COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY

William Colgate 1founded (found) the Colgate Company in 1806 as a starch, soap and candle business in New York City. For the first hundred years, the company 2(do) all its business in the United States. However, in the early 1900s, the company 3(begin) an aggressive expansion programme that 4(lead) to the establishment of Colgate operations in countries throughout Europe, Latin America and the Far East. In more recent years it 5(set up) operations in Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe and China. Colgate-Palmolive 6(become) a truly global consumer products company, worth $8.7 bn and selling in more than 200 countries.

Colgate-Palmolive’s five main sectors of business are: Oral care, Body Care, Household Surface Care, Fabric Care and Pet Nutrition and Health Care. In the area of Oral Care, Colgate-Palmolive is the world leader in toothpaste. As a result of the company’s heavy investment in research and technology, it 7(develop) many successful toothpastes, rinses and toothbrushes. To strengthen its presence in professional products, Colgate-Palmolive 8(buy) the Oral Pharm Company of Australia and the dental therapeutics business of Scherer Laboratories USA in 1990. for many years, the company 9(have) a strong dental education programme in schools throughout the world and 10(maintain) a close partnership with the international dental community. Recently it 11(create) a web site for dental professionals.

The company always 12(pay) close attention to the environment. It already 13(make) great progress in the use of recyclable bottles and packaging materials.

B. Write out the information from the text to complete the notes below.

Name of company___________________

Headquarters_______________________

Founder __________________________

Business activities___________________

Main markets_______________________

Sales______________________________

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C. Read the story about Colgate-Palmolive Company again and describe the key to its success.

Ex. 9. Write a company profile for TESCO using the notes below. Use the example in the previous task.

Name of company: TESCO plc

Established: 1924

Headquarters: Cheshunt, near London, UK

Chairman: John Gardiner

Business activities:

Superstores and hypermarkets-food, toys, clothes

Personal finance – banking, credit cards, loans, insurance

E-commerce – home shopping, books online

Internet service provider

Main markets: UK, Ireland, France, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand (plans for Malaysia and Taiwan)

1999 sales: £18.5 bn

Ex. 10. Make up a project. Work in small groups. Find the information about worldwide successful company. Describe in details its structure, way to success and present company profile. Accompany your demonstration with pictures. Use available means to make it interesting for listeners.

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UNIT VI. RETAILING AND E-COMMERCE.

Topics for discussion:

1.What is retailing?

2.What do you know about e-commerce?

3.Do you use e-mail? Does it save time or make more work?

Ex. 1. Read the text and guess the meaning of the bold words.

Retailing is a business of selling products to the general public. Most retailers sell from shops or stores which are called outlets. Many countries have large retail chains which are organized nationally and sell standardized selection of products. Their outlets are often in shopping centers (US malls), where there is a large variety of stores in the same location.

Many large retailers operate from out of town locations with parking facilities, known as either hypermarkets (over 30,000 square meters) or superstores (under 30,000 square meters). They may be on a retail park, where there are a number of large stores.

Department stores are large shops which sell a wide variety of products, usually from a city center location. As the name suggests, they are organized in departments, each with its own manager.

Ex. 2. Match the word with the definition.

Ex. 3. In groups, discuss the retail business in your country. How has the business changed in recent years? What do you think are the reason for these changes?

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Ex. 4. A. What kind of goods can you buy in the following sections of the Department store? Match the items with the department.

B. What kind of foodstuffs can you buy in the following departments of the food store?

Ex. 5. Work in group. Visit one of the super/hypermarkets in your city and draw a floor plan of the departments with the list of items you can find there. Tell all the rest about layout and design of the store. Explain the reason for the location items in this way.

Ex. 6. Read the article and say what a key to success of this company is.

RICHER

PICKINGS

At hi-fi chain Richer sounds “we have a laugh”, says founder Julian Richer. They also sell more per square than any other retailer in Britain.

By Nigel Cope

Who is the busiest retailer in Britain? Marks and Spenser? Sainsbury perhaps, or Tesco? Wrong on all three counts. The answer is Richer Sounds, a little-known, privately-owned, cut-price retailer or hi-fi equipment with 28 shops in the UK.