Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов неязыковых вузов специальности "Государственное и муниципальное управление". Касторнова О.Н. - 68 стр.

                3) Pret creates handmade, natural food, avoiding the unclear chemicals,
         additives common to so much of the 'prepared' and 'fast' food on the market
         today.
                                                                              (Pret a Manger)
                6. Discuss these statements. Do you agree with them? Give your reasons.
                1) “Small is beautiful” is a better strategy in business than “big is best”.
                2) Big companies should aim to gain market share rather than make
         profits.
                3) Companies should focus on what they do best rather than diversify.
                Reading I: 1. Discuss these questions.
                1) Why do firms merge?
                2) What problems can arise before and after a merger takes place?
                2. In the interview below a Chief Executive1 describes how he and his
         board decided whether to merge with a larger company in the same industry.
         Read the interview and note down the arguments for and against the merger.
                 Interview with John T. Chambers, Chief Executive, Cisco Systems
                A merger of equals had a lot of demand. If you combine the Number 1
         and Number 2 players in an industry, by definition you're Number 1 in terms of
         size. And when you are growing that fast, you have a number of key
         management openings you have to cultivate. By combining two companies with
         good management teams2, you automatically build up the strength3 of your
         management and you do it quickly. You can also widen your customer base and
         have more distribution channels.
                In addition, the merger automatically makes your lasting competition
         second level. As a result, your competition must rethink its strategy. In the end,
         you force a period of mergers and acquisitions on your competition. They have
         no choice but to respond to the changes you initiated.
                When we looked more closely, our concerns were raised. For example, 50
         percent of large-scale mergers fail. Mergers can fail on a number of levels. They
         can fail in terms of their profit to the shareholders, customers, employees and
         business partners. A decision has to be right with each of those groups, or we
         would not go forward with it.
                If you merge two companies that are growing at 80 percent rates, you
         stand a very good chance of stopping both of them. That's a fact. For a period of
         time, no matter how easily they operate, you lose energy.
                Our industry is not like the banking industry, where you are acquiring
         branch banks and customers. In our industry, you are acquiring people. And if
         you don't keep those people, you have made a terrible 4, terrible investment. We
         pay between $500,000 and $2 million per person in an acquisition. So you can
         understand that if you don't keep the people, you've done a wonderful disservice
         to your shareholders. So we focus first on the people and how we incorporate
         them into our company, and then we focus on how to drive the business.



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