 |
|
Dirty Business Bright Ideas
Problems
In the last two years, Caferoma's share of the quality ground coffee market has declined by almost 30% (see chart).There are several reasons for this:
| сл |
a) Brand loyalty: Consumers have become less loyal to brands and more price conscious. They are willing to buy lower-priced coffee products.
b) Price: Supermarkets are selling, under their own label, similar products to Caferoma at much lower prices.
c) 'Copycat'products: Competing products of Italian-style ground coffee are selling at prices 30 to 40% lower than Caferoma.
d) Brand image: the Caferoma brand no longer seems to be exciting and up-to- date.
Market share European quality ground coffee
Top five European coffee brands
|
| 2 years ago |
| last year |
| Supermarket own label brands Caferoma |
Other brands
| i |
| Hotels Restaurants Supermarkets Specialist shops |
Sales outlets as a percentage of Caferoma sales
50 40 30
Focus group results
Do you think Caferoma is.
| % of people answering 'yes' 60 43 70 80 23 55 |
expensive? value for money? good quality? old-fashioned? exciting? exclusive?
| Last year |
2 years ago
Possible solutions
Repositioning the product
Change Caferoma's image to appeal to a different market segment. (Which segment? What changes to taste, quality, packaging, logo, labelling, distribution?)
Own brand label products
Allow supermarkets and hypermarkets to sell Caferoma under the supermarkets' own brand labels. Continue to market the Caferoma brand at the same time.
Pricing
Reduce the price by, say, 20% to 30% so that it is in the medium range of prices.
Advertising
Develop a new advertising campaign to relaunch the brand.
Multiple brands
Sell Caferoma, with small changes to product, under different brand names at lower prices.
|
(ЙШЗЙ______________________
As members of PEFD's marketing team, hold an informal meeting. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Then decide what to do to stop the decline in the product's market share and to increase profits. V
Writing
Write an e-mail to Caferoma's Managing Director, Mario Cumino. Summarise what action you agreed to take at the meeting to solve Caferoma's problems. Explain your reasons.
Writing file page 133
A new product
Bring out an instant coffee or decaffeinated product under the Caferoma brand as soon as possible.
Stretching the brand
Allow some makers of coffee equipment (cafetieres, percolators, coffee machines, etc.) to use the Caferoma brand on their goods, for a licensing fee.
1.6 Claudia, Caferoma's Marketing Manager, has some recent news from one of Caferoma's biggest customers, Majestic Hotels, a major European hotel chain. She discusses the news with Caferoma's Sales Director, Pietro. Listen to their conversation. How does this new information affect your decisions?
□ Vocabulary
British and American English | I Listening
A business traveller's priorities Language review Talking about the future I Reading Air rage p i Skills
Making arrangements on the telephone Г I Case study
|
Work, rest and play
QAnswer these questions individually. Then compare your answers with a partner.
1How often do you travel by air, rail, road and sea?
2What do you enjoy about travelling? What don't you enjoy?
3Put the following in order of importance to you when you travel.
comfort safety price reliability speed
4Does the order change for different types of travel?
@Choose the correct word from the box to complete the following list of things which irritate people when flying.
| seats | trolleys queues | luggage |
| room | cancellations food | jet |
1 not enough leg...................... 5 no baggage.......................... available
2 lost or delayed...................... 6 overbooking of..........................
3 long..................... at check-in 7 flight delays and...........................
4 poor quality...................... and drink 8 ...................... -lag
Q ) 2.1 Listen to three people talking about their travel experiences. Tick the problems in Exercise В that they mention.
^ Vocabulary file page 173
| Starting up |
0Which of the things in Exercise В irritate you most? Which irritate you least? Discuss your ideas with a partner.
2 Travel
QMatch the words and phrases below which have the same meaning. For each pair decide which is British English and which is American English.
|
фWork in pairs. Use words or phrases in American English from Exercise A to complete the text below.
My last overseas business trip was a nightmare from start to finish. First of all there was a delay on the way to the airport as there was an accident on the
\ When I got there I found the lower level of the airport................... 2
was flooded. Next my.................... 3 was too big and heavy so I had to check it in.
When we arrived the.................... 4 was closed and there were no cabs at all. After
a long time trying to read the.................. 5 and waiting for forty minutes, we finally
got a bus..................... 6 and found the hotel, but the...................... 7 wasn't working
and our rooms were on the fifth floor.
| Vocabulary British and American English |
|
| PARKINS LOT |
| CAR PARK |
| Subway |
| rest ROOM |
| DOWNTOWN |
| h5 |
G О 2.2 Listen to the recording and check your answers.
02.3 Stephanie Taylor is a businesswoman who travels regularly as part of her job. Listen to the first part of the interview and choose the three priorities she mentions from the list below.
• Good organisation • Easy booking • Regular transport
• Balancing cost with comfort • Being patient • Airline food
Why does Stephanie think it is still important for businesspeople to travel regularly?
02.4 Listen to the second part of the interview and list the best and worst travel experiences that Stephanie describes.
Best: 1.......................................................... Worst: ...........................
0In pairs discuss what developments you expect to see in future business travel.
G^2.5 Listen to what Stephanie says about future business travel and complete her prediction below.
Perhaps, particularly in the area of.................. \ I think hotels will need to
improve.............. 2 in general. There are some very good hotels already, but I
think more hotels will provide................ 3 for businesspeople ... perhaps some
| Listening A business traveller's priorities |
A Stephanie Taylor
|
............ 4 facilities for................. 5.
QAnswer these questions before you read the article.
1What was your worst experience when travelling by air?
2Why do some people get angry when they are travelling on a plane?
Vocabulary file page 173
QNow read the article. Which of these statements are true about the article? Correct the false ones.
1People in groups are more likely to behave badly on planes.
2Drink is often the cause of problems on board.
3Airlines can do little to improve air quality.
4Travellers are using new technology to express their dissatisfaction with airlines.
5Airlines have taken no action to address travellers' concerns.
фWhich of the following reasons are given for air rage in the article?
1poor service 6 people drinking alcohol
2flights not leaving on time 7 poor air quality
3poor quality of food
4too many passengers on a plane
| 16 I |
5not feeling safe
0Which of the following words from the article have a negative meaning? Use a good dictionary to help you.
rage misbehaviour quality frustration
concern harm optimum valuable
irritability disorientation complaints criticise
| Reading Air rage |
| 8noisy passengers 9not being able to smoke 10 not enough cabin crew |
disruptive dangerous dissatisfactio
Road ragers in the sky
By Derek Brown
RAG/NG OR NON-RftaiNG SIR?
Л
|
Airlines and their long-suffering customers are reporting a steep climb in air rage incidents. Some incidents are apparently caused by problems which are familiar to many regular travellers. One case reported from America stemmed
from an interminable delay in takeoff, when passengers were 10 cooped up in their aircraft on the tarmac for four hours, without food, drink or information. Mass unrest is less common than individual misbehaviour, as in the case of the 15 convict who recently went crazy on a flight, attacked the crew and tried to open a door in mid-flight.
The psychology of air rage is a new area of study, and there are 20 almost as many explanations as examples. Most analysts of the phenomenon blame alcohol, but many people now think that the airlines are at fault. To cut costs, 25 they are cramming ever more passengers into their aircraft, while reducing cabin crew, training and quality of service, all of which increase passenger frustration. In 30 addition, there is increasing concern in the US about another cost-cutting exercise, which could seriously harm passengers' health: cabin ventilation. 35 Modern aircraft are equipped with sophisticated air conditioning devices - but running them at optimum capacity burns up valuable aviation fuel. Many 40 airlines routinely instruct their flight crews to run the systems on minimum settings. Campaigners for improved air quality claim that this
can lead to irritability and 45 disorientation.
In the US, the soaring number of passenger complaints across a wide range of issues is reflected in a number of new Internet sites which 50 criticise the airlines and demand better service. One of the sites is demanding an air passengers' Bill of Rights.
Cabin and flight crews, who are 55 in the front line of the battle against disruptive and dangerous in-flight behaviour, have called for stiffer penalties against the offenders. Management have also called 60 for legislation - while denying that its cost-cutting practices have contributed to the problem. But there are some signs, in the US at least, that the airlines are at last 65 attempting to respond to customer dissatisfaction. Some major lines have announced concessions to the most frequent complaint of all, and are removing seats to make more 70 room for their customers.
From The Guardian
|
( 2 Travel
| Language review Talking about the future |
|
We can use different language forms to talk about the future.
We use going to to talk about what we intend to do and have already decided to do. We're going to attend the seminar in France next week. Are you going to book the tickets for the flight?
We use will or '11 to talk something we have decided to do at the time of speaking: The flight's late. I'll call the office to cancel the meeting.
We use the present continuous to talk about a fixed arrangement. I'm travelling to Germany next week. Are yon flying on the same flight as your boss?
We use the present simple to talk about a timetable or programme. The train leaves Rome at 2 p.m. tomorrow. It doesn't stop at Milan.
| i8j |
^ page 150
0 ( ) 2.6,2.7 Philippa Knight, Sales Director at The Fashion Group in New
York, makes two telephone calls to Maria Bonetti, a fashion buyer in London.
Listen and note: a) the purpose of each call and b) the result.
0 О 2.6 Listen to the first call again and complete the extract below.
Philippa I'm calling because I'll be in London next week and.....................................
................................................................... [6] to see you. I want to tell you
about our new collection.
Maria Great. What........................................................................... [7]? I'm fairly free next
week, I think.
Philippa ..................................................... з? in the afternoon? Could.................
................................ [8] then?
Maria Let me look now. Let.......................................................................... [9]. Yes, that'd
be no problem at all.................................. [10] 2 o'clock? Is that OK?
0 О 2.7 Listen to the second call again and complete the extract below.
Receptionist Thank you. I'm putting you through. Hello, I'm afraid she's engaged
at the moment................................................... 1 or can I take a
message?
Philippa I'll leave a message, please. The thing is, I should be meeting Ms
Bonetti at 2 p.m,.................................................................... 2 . My plane
was delayed, and I've got to reschedule my appointments. If
possible,....................................................................................... [11]
tomorrow................. 4 in the morning.......................................................
................................ 5 here at the hotel, please?
Receptionist Certainly. What's the number, please?
Philippa It's............................ 6.
| Making arrangements on the telephone |
0Role play these two telephone situations.
Student В is on a business trip to Sydney, Australia and wants to stay an extra day. Telephone the Qantas airline office. Talk to the representative, Student A, to arrange a different flight.
Useful language I
Answering the phone
Hello, Erik Halse speaking. Good morning, Madison Ltd.
Making contact
I'd like to speak to Anna Schilling, please. Could I have the sales department, please?
Identifying yourself
This is / My name's Marta Blanco.
Marta Blanco speaking.
Stating your purpose
I'm calling about... The reason I'm calling is ...
Making arrangements
Could we meet on Monday at io. 30?
How / What about April 10th? Is 11.15 convenient / OK?
Changing arrangements
I'm afraid I can't come on Friday. We've got an appointment for 11.00, but i'm afraid something's come up.
Could we fix another time? I can't make it on ...
Responding
That's fine / OK for me. Sorry, I can't make it then. No problem.
Closing
Good. So, I'll see you on the 8th. Thank you. Goodbye. Right. / OK then. That's great, I'll see you ...
J
bo
|
|
Background
ICON is a computer software company based in Los Angeles, USA. The Manager of its company travel service is making arrangements for some senior managers to attend a seminar in France.
The seminar starts on Friday July 5th and ends 011 Sunday July 7th. It will include meetings to discuss work problems and executive games to encourage teamwork. This is important because the participants are of different nationalities. The participants will expect to work hard, then relax, enjoy the amenities of the hotel, explore the surrounding area and have a really good time. The Manager of ICON's travel service wants to
You are either:
Manager, ICON'S travel service or
Account Manager for Corporate Travel, Universal Airlines
You should keep these roles throughout the case study.
book a hotel which is both stylish and value for money.
Stage l
The Manager of ICON's travel service phones the Account Manager for Corporate Travel at Universal Airlines. He asks Universal to propose three hotels in France for the seminar. The Account Manager of Corporate Travel asks for more details about the seminar and its participants. Manager, ICON's travel service: turn to page 140. Account Manager, Universal Airlines: turn to page 147.
Read your information files. Then role play the telephone conversation and arrange to meet one day the following week.
Stage 2
The Manager of ICON's travel service has to change the date of the meeting. Read your information files and role play the telephone call. Manager, ICON's travel service: turn to page 142. Account Manager, Universal Airlines: turn to page 149.
18th century castle; 35 rooms
In the countryside. Bordeaux - 30 km; airport - 25 km;
railway station - 20km
French cuisine. Excellent vegetarian food.
€200 per room per night. Cost of meals per day: €50
Group discount: 20%
1 large room, 3 small rooms. Basic equipment. Swimming pool, Gym, Bar
|
Disabled facilities on the ground floor only. No smoking Free visits to a nightclub (Sat evening).
Hotel Marine ***
Modern hotel; 68 rooms
On the seafront in the Bay of Arcachon; Bordeaux - 60 km; airport - 50 km; railway station - 1.5 km International cuisine. Vegetarian menu available €150 per room per night. Cost of meals per day: €80. No discount for groups
|
| Description: Location: Restaurant: Price: Conference facilities: Other facilities: |
2 large rooms, 2 smaller rooms. High-tech equipment. Bar, Satellite TV, Modem point, Air conditioning Smoking areas in hotel lounge only. Disabled facilities on ground floor only. Outdoor activities including golf, horse-riding, wind-surfing, fishing and boat trips.
Hotel Splendide ***
Modem hotel (built in 1992); 120 rooms In Bordeaux city centre in a large pedestrian zone. Airport - 15 km; railway station - 15 km; hotel shuttle bus to and from the airport
French and Italian cuisine. Vegetarian menu available. €220 per room per night. Cost of meals per day: €80. Group discount: 10%
|
1 large rooms, 3 small rooms. Basic equipment. Bar, Satellite TV, Modem point. Air conditioning No smoking. Disabled facilities on all floors.
Stage з
The Account Manager at Universal Airlines sends information about three possible hotels for the seminar to the Manager, ICON's travel service. They are all in Bordeaux, or in the surrounding area. At the meeting they discuss the three proposals and choose one of the hotels for the seminar. Role play the discussion.
Writing
As the Account Manager for Corporate Travel at Universal Airlines, write an e-mail to the manager of the hotel chosen for the seminar. Confirm the booking, giving details of the number of participants, arrival and departure times, meals, equipment and any other special requirements.
^^ Writing file page 133
OVERVIEW
Vocabulary
Company structure Reading A successful organisation Language review Noun combinations Listening
Advising companies Skills Socialising: introductions and networking Case study Auric Bank
|
wrfW" w
How many people work in your office? About half.
Anonymous
0Discuss these questions.
1Would you like to work in the building in the photo above? Explain why or why not.
2Which people in your organisation have their own office? Do they have their own office because of a) seniority; b) a need for confidentiality; c) the type of work they do?
| a reserved parking space an office with a window a uniform a personal business card your own office a company car your name on your door |
0How important are the following in showing a person's status in an organisation? Give each one a score from i (not important) to 5 (very important).
having a secretary
taking holidays when you like
the size of your desk
more than one seat in your office
flying business class
a company credit card
|
| Starting up |
having fixed working hours
Match the words and phrases below to the correct place on the diagram.
subsidiary 8 head office
factory / plant distribution centre
call centre warehouse
| Vocabulary Company structure |
service centre branches / outlets
|
0 i 13.1Listen to the comments from different places in the organisation and write them down. Then match them to the places shown in Exercise A.
i Stock levels have- been low for two weeks now. - warehouse
QThink about the organisation you work for, or one you know well. How is it organised?
0Discuss these questions.
l Which of the words below can describe:
a)good qualities of an organisation?
b)bad qualities of an organisation?
| bureaucratic | caring | centralised | conservative |
| decentralised | democratic | dynamic | hierarchical |
| impersonal | market-driven | professional | progressive |
2Can you add any others?
3Which of the words describe your own organisation or an organisation you
know well?
^^ Vocabulary file page 172
0Read paragraph 1 of the article and answer these questions.
1Where is SOL located?
2What is unusual about the company?
3What does SOL do?
0Read the article and match the headings below to paragraphs 2,3,4, 5 and 6.
| A successful organisation |
A People set their own targets В Hard work has to be fun С Loose organisations need tight systems D Great service requires cutting-edge technology E There are no low-skill jobs
Dirty Business Bright Ideas
By Gina Imperato
1 A headquarters with a difference
Walk into SOL City, headquarters of one of northern Europe's most admired companies, and it feels like you've entered a business playground. Located in a renovated film studio in the heart of Helsinki, the office explodes with 5 colour, creativity and chaos. The walls are bright red, white and yellow; the employees wander the halls talking on yellow portable phones. Liisa Joronen developed SOL Cleaning Service 11 years ago, out of a 150-year-old industrial empire owned by her family. SOL's competitive 10 formula has five key ingredients.
|
SOL's training programme consists of seven modules, each of which lasts four months and ends with a rigorous exam. Of course, there are a limited number of 25 ways to polish a table or shampoo a carpet. That's why SOL employees also study time management, budgeting and people skills.
Lots of companies talk about decentralising responsibility and authority. At SOL it's a way of life. The real power players of the company are its 135 supervisors, each of whom leads a team of up to 50 cleaners. These supervisors work with their teams to create their own budgets, do their own hiring and negotiate their own deals with customers.
Liisa Joronen believes in autonomy, but she's also keen on accountability. SOL is fanatical about measuring performance. It does so frequently and visibly, and focuses on customer satisfaction. Every time SOL lands a contract, for example, the salesperson works at the new customer's site alongside the team that will do the cleaning in the future. Together they establish performance benchmarks. Then, every month, the customer rates the team's performance based on those benchmarks. 'The more we free our people from rules,' Joronen says, 'the more we need good measurements.'
Few people dream about becoming a cleaner. But that doesn't mean cleaners can't find satisfaction in their work. The keys to satisfaction, Joronen believes, are fun and individual freedom. Its cleaners wear red-and yellow 15 jumpsuits that reinforce the company's upbeat image. SOL's logo, a yellow happy face, is on everything from her blazer to the company's budget reports. Freedom means abolishing all the rules and regulations of conventional corporate life. There are no titles or secretaries at SOL, no 20 individual offices or set hours of work. The company has eliminated all perks and status symbols.
Laptops and cell-phones are standard equipment for all supervisors at SOL, freeing them to work where they want, how they want. Inside the offices there's almost no room for paper. So the company stores all critical budget 50 documents and performance reports on its Intranet, along with training schedules, upcoming events and company news.
From Fast Company
0Which of these statements are true? Correct the false ones.
1Everyone has their own office.
2Liisa Joronen believes cleaners can feel good about their job.
3At the end of the training course there is an exam.
4The training course takes 28 months to complete.
5At SOL giving responsibility to employees is important.
6SOL thinks measuring performance restricts freedom.
7Every month Liisa Joronen measures each team's performance.
8All the information is stored in filing cabinets.
0Match these phrases from paragraph 5 of the article to their meanings.
1 keen on accountability
2 fanatical about measuring performance
3 establish performance benchmarks
4 rates the team's performance
a)assesses how the group have done
b)extremely interested in judging achievements
c)interested in people being responsible for what they do
d)set up standards of achievements
0Discuss these questions.
1Would you like to work in a company like SOL? Explain why or why not.
| Language review Noun combinations |
2Would Liisa Joronen's ideas work in your own company or organisation?
We can combine two or more nouns in several ways.
1's possessive 3 phrases with of
Julia's desk Director of Communications
2one noun used as an adjective 4 compound nouns forming one word head office boardroom
Match these examples from the article on page 24 with the categories above.
customer satisfaction c) SOL's logo
way of life d) salesperson ^jjjN page 151
0Find noun combinations in the article on page 24. Write them under these four headings:
| one noun used as an adjective |
| phrases withof |
| s possessive |
compound nouns forming one word
| 0Underline the most suitable noun combination in each group.
|
0Nouns used as numerical adjectives are singular. For example,a plan which lasts for 10 years = a ten-year plan. Change the following phrases in the same way.
1a hotel with five stars
2a budget worth 3 million dollars
3a presentation that lasts 20 minutes
4a contract worth 200,000 pounds
5an industrial empire which is 150 years old
0Match each noun in column 1 to two of the nouns in column 2 to make word partnerships.
| business | a) | virus | b) | cards | c) | plan | |
| management | a) | style | b) | technology | c) | policy | |
| sales | a) | campaign | b) | department | c) | trade | |
| labour | a) | force | b) | technology | c) | market | |
| company | a) | house | b) | headquarters | c) | logo | |
| trade | a) | union | b) | technology | c) | fair | |
| consumer | a) | goods | b) | logos | C) | awareness | |
| research | a) | project | b) | findings | c) | knowledge | |
| information | a) | technology | b) | force | c) | desk | |
| 1 computer | a) | union | b) | program | c) | virus |
0Make sentences with the noun combinations in Exercise D. For example:
| Listening Advising companies |
Richard Brown
|
It is common practice to exchange business cards when meeting new clients.
0 О 3.2 Richard Brown is the managing partner of Cognosis, a management consultancy in London which advises companies on organisation and change. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer these questions.
1What four approaches does Cognosis use to analyse a business?
2How many different business 'character types' does Cognosis recognise?
3What three things do companies deal with differently, according to Richard?
Q U 3,3 Listen to the second part of the interview. Tick the sentences below which are true, according to Richard, and correct those which are false.
1 The hardest way to change the character of a business is to merge it with another company.
2 When Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged, they wanted to create a business culture which was different from the two companies.
3 The senior managers spent a lot of money training staff in the new business methods.
4 The new culture was only partly successful.
0 ( t 3.4 In the third part of the interview, Richard Brown describes three ways in which successful companies are similar. Complete the description below.
First, they're......................... 1: they have a very clear sense of...............................
........................ 2. Second, they're............... -............. 3: they invest much time and
energy in understanding and...................................................... And third, they are
........... -.............. 5. By that I mean that people inside the organisation are very
clear about the values that should.......................................... 6 and behaviours.
О 3.5,3.6,3.7 Listen to the three conversations. Choose the correct description from the list for each one.
Greeting someone and talking about the past
Introducing another person
Introducing yourself and giving information about your company
0 3.5 Listen to the first conversation again and answer these questions.
1Which of these expressions do you hear in the dialogue?
a)Nice to see you again. d) How about you?
b)Fine, thanks. e) I changed my job last year.
c)Wonderful! f) I'm in banking now.
2Who is head of data processing?
3Who now works in marketing?
| Socialising: introductions and networking |
| О |
0 О 3.6 Listen to the second conversation again and complete the chart below.
Company
Name
Port Lar&en 6rika fcoenig
0 О 3.6 Listen again and complete this extract from the second conversation.
Don Well, we're basically an......................................... 1 business. We supply
large companies with various services including payroll, 2 and human resources.
Is Atsource Solutions a new company?
No, we're well established. The company was................................... 3 in
1978. It's organised into three................................. 4. We have over 6,000
............................. 5; we've got our................................. 6 in Frankfurt and
............................. 7 in over 20 countries - we're pretty big.
0 3.7 Listen to the third conversation again and answer these questions.
1What expression does John use to introduce Miriam?
| Activity |
| Erika Don |
2Why could Miriam be helpful to Heinz in his work?
3What interest do they share?
Vocab ulary file page 172
Useful language
Greetings
Hello .... Nice to see you again. Hi.... How are you? How's everything going?
Introducing yourself
I'm from ... / I'm with ... /1 work for... I'm in sales / finance / marketing. I'm in charge of ... I'm responsible for...
Introducing someone else
I'd like you to meet Miriam. Can I introduce you to Miriam? Robert, have you met Vladimir?
Talking about your company
The company was founded in ... We make / manufacture / sell / distribute...
We have subsidiaries / factories / branches in ...
We have a workforce of 2,000. Our main competitors are ...
Responding
Fine, thanks. Not too bad, thanks. Nice / Pleased to meet you. It's a pleasure.
Talking about common interests
You and Heinz have something in common.
You both like / enjoy / are interested in ...
Networking
We're very interested in ... Do you know anyone who could help us?
Could you let me have their contact details?
Could I call him and mention your name?
Let me give you my business card.
Background
'We constantly review our business in order to provide customers with excellent service at competitive prices. As part of our major reorganisation, we've been looking at the cost of customer services. We have a range of options. We can make changes in-house, outsource call centres to areas within the UK or outsource off-shore to low-cost countries such as India.'
|
| Auric Bank |
| >- о |
|
| (Л ш СП < и |
Graham Hammond, Chief Executive, Auric Bank.
The Chief Executive made the statement above to a group of investors three weeks ago. Auric Bank (AB) lost £1.5 billion last year because it invested in unprofitable areas of business. Since then AB has carried out a major review of its operations. It has concluded that:
1 customers believe AB is charging too much for its services;
2 AB no longer has the image of a 'caring' bank which is close to its customers and understands their needs;
3 the bank needs to reduce costs to boost its profits and share price.
To cut costs and increase efficiency, AB is now considering a number of options concerning the location of its call centres.
The call centres
AB has approximately 2,500 employees working in three large call centres located in cities in the South of England. The company's headquarters are in London. There are four options that the directors of the bank are considering.
Work in groups of four. You are directors
ofAB.
1Choose a role card (pages from 140,141, 147,149). Read your role card and prepare for a meeting to consider the four options.
2Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
|
|
3Try to persuade the other directors that your option is the right one for AB.