Business Result

Reading Comprehension
Unit 1. Companies.
Text 2. (Intermediate)

Intel, which makes chips for 80% of the world's PCs, faces a near-existential
threat.
With so much focus on the smartphone market, which is still seeing year-
on-year growth of about 50%, the PC business is facing one of its toughest years
ever, with analysts forecasting an overall decline in Windows PC sales this year.
But Intel insists that the future remains with the device that has made it rich
– and showed off hybrid tablets and ultrabook laptops using voice and gesture
recognition, as well as a low-power chip scheduled for autumn of 2013, as it tries
to persuade investors that the PC business will recover.
At its annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, the
company has demonstrated a range of mobile devices, many of them crosses
between tablets and laptops.
Executives showed smooth ultrabook laptops with improved gesture- and
voice-recognition features, similar to those already found on some smartphones.
It also showed the low-power Haswell CPU, scheduled to start appearing in
laptops in the fourth quarter of 2013, which will use just 10 watts rather than the
17W consumed by the current generation of Ivy Bridge chips used in today's
laptops.
Cutting that power consumption should mean longer battery life – and as
part of Intel's recognition, along with the rest of the computing industry, that
mobility is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in personal computing.
"Haswell was designed with mobility in mind ... from smooth tablets to
ultrabooks to high-performing desktops," said David Perlmutter, general manager
of Intel's Architecture Group.
However, a report this week from the analysts IHS iSuppli says that while
the combined market for PCs, smartphones and tablets will almost double over the
next four years, Intel's share of the processors used in them will dip from 35% to
29%. So what can Intel do?
Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Perlmutter suggested that the strict
categories that we use now for laptops and tablets will have less meaning as
manufacturers over the next few years offering a wider range of mobile products,
mixing and matching new features, performance and size.
He said recent launches of smaller tablet sizes by Google, with the Nexus
7, and Amazon, with its revamped Kindle Fire, were part of the growing range of
devices for consumers to choose between – and that trend would gain more
popularity.
"There will be a variety of needs fulfilled by a variety of solutions. Some
people want something very simple," Perlmutter said. "Others need performance."

1
 For Intel, showing off its most recent innovations at this week's forum is
key to convincing investors and hardware developers that the PC industry remains
innovative and still has a future.
Perlmutter pointed to tablets with extendable screens, and laptops with
removable keyboards, as devices that he said might catch on given the upcoming
release of Microsoft's Windows 8, which will feature touch capability and be
available from late October.
The biggest problem for Intel is that so far the tablet explosion, led by
Apple's iPad, has passed it by because almost every tablet on sale today is powered
by chips designed by British company ARM.
Intel's share of the tablet market, from devices running Windows 7 and
earlier, accounts for a few million annually in a fast-growing segment that saw
Apple sell 17m iPads in the second quarter alone.
Intel's tablet strategy so far has focused on Windows 8, but Perlmutter said
tablets running Intel processors and which could run Google's Android were also in
the works.
It is not clear which of those will be the more successful: Android tablet
activations make up 0.1% of daily Android activations, which are running at about
1m a day.
Windows 8 tablets, meanwhile, could boost the market – but Microsoft's
Surface tablet, due to go on sale later this year, uses ARM chips.
ARM chips are also used in every mobile phone in the world, and provide
the CPU for almost every smartphone on the market; only ZTE and Motorola have
announced phones using Intel chips.
The problems in the PC business, which is seeing tablets and smartphones
stealing its revenue, led Intel to cutting its third-quarter revenue estimate more than
expected last Friday due to a decline in demand for its chips, as customers reduce
inventories and businesses buy fewer PCs.
Intel's challenge is that it has struggled to reduce the power consumption of
its chips to match that of ARM for smartphones and tablets – and that has left it
vulnerable as mobility and especially long battery life has become increasingly
important.
As well as investors, Intel's forum is visited by thousands of hardware
developers, many of whom face decisions about whether to focus their resources
on the PC industry or mobile devices using chips made by Intel's rivals.
Intel is heavily promoting premium Ultrabook laptops powered by recently
launched Ivy Bridge processors. But Wall Street investors say that adding costly
touch screens to models due out soon may make them too expensive for many
consumers.
Many ultrabooks currently on the market, without touch screens, cost more
than $1,000 – or in the UK around £800.
According to the research company Gartner, in the second quarter of 2012
ultrabooks, despite seeing their first releases at the end of 2011, are still seeing
small sales and had little impact on overall sales growth.

2
 But the introduction of Intel's Ivy Bridge chip this summer could help the
segment grow, Gartner suggested.
Perlmutter said bringing down the costs of building ultrabooks to make
them more mainstream was a challenge Intel was working on with PC
manufacturers.The company has given a $300m investment fund to help PC
makers produce more.
Underscoring the shift in focus toward mobile, Apple on Wednesday
offered more distraction from the PC segment with the launch of its new iPhone 5
at the Yerba Buena centre in San Francisco, not far from Intel's display.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/13/intel-tough-year-fall-pc-
sales?INTCMP=SRCH

1) Look through the sentences and decide which of them are True (T) or False
(F).
a) The sales of PC sector will fall as analysts predict.
b) Intel showed its best laptop and ebook to highlight their prospects for the future.
c) The company also presented low energy consuming product.
d) Perlmutter said that soon it will be difficult to differentiate between gadgets,
because the size, performance and features will mix up.
e) The main goal of the presentation is to show that the PC industry will soon end
up.
f) The Intel`s competitors are far behind and there is no threat for Intel`s sales.
g) Motorola will soon use Intel`s chips.
h) Customers prefer to buy tablets or smartphones rhather than a PC.
i) Investors say that a new ultrabook is a very low costing product for Intel.
j) Ultrabooks were sold rather badly in 2011.

2) Try to remember the main idea of the text and put the sentences into the
correct order.
a) Intel`s competitors create problems.
b) Mixed gadgets like Google Nexus build the future.
c) Intel needs to make an ultrabook cheaper at costs.
d) Smartphones steal PC`s sector revenue.
e) The predicted decline of the PC industry.
f) Analysts say Intel will lower sales in the future combined technical market.
g) Hardware developers visit the forum.
h) Tablets with modifying screens and laptops with removable keyboards are one
of the main innovations of Intel.
i) Intel shows an upgraded ultrabook and low-power product.
j) Apple launches Iphone 5.

3) Match the words from the left column with their definitions from the
right.
1. analyst A. the process in which the substance of
a thing is completely destroyed, used
3
 up, or incorporated or transformed
into something else

2. tablet B. an individual who is in charge of a

certain group of tasks, or a certain
subset of a company

3. consumption C. subdivision of a sector, consisting of

distinct but closely linked or related
elements, members, or parts

4. share D. a person who reviews and examines

data or information for a specific area
5. manager E. the income generated from sale of
goods or services, or any other use of
capital or assets, associated with the
main operations of an organization
before any costs or expenses are
deducted
6. launch F. a unit of ownership that represents an
equal proportion of a company's
capital

7. segment G. to state or make known, especially

publicly
8. announce H. a person, group, etc. competing with
others for the same thing or in the
same area
9. revenue I. a mobile computer, larger than a
mobile phone or personal digital
assistant, integrated into a flat touch
screen and primarily operated by
touching the screen rather than using
a physical keyboard
10. rival J. the debut of a product into the market

4) Fill in the gaps using the words from the text.

(revenue, to face, industry, rivals, release, trend, produces, segment, to launch, sales)
a) The PC (….) is not so popular as before.
b) The (….) of a new product will be in a month.
c) Our company doesn`t regard (….) as enemies.
d) Smartphone (….) of the market grows every day.
e) The PC company wants (….) an ebook.
f) The industry (….) more than it can sell.
4
g) (….) of the new gadget are falling, because the battery consumes a lot of energy.
h) Following the (….) a company wins easy money, but can lose old clients.
i) The executive is always ready (….) any problem of the company.
j) Our annual (….) is bigger than our competitors`.

5) Make questions in Present Simple about “Intel” using prompts below.

a) The company/ successful?
b) Why/ Intel/ organize the forum?
c) What/ the aim of the presentations?
d) Who/ the general manager of Intel?
e) How/ Intel/ react to increase in sales?
f) The company/ have the future?
g) What/ its general problem?
h) How/ the executives/ solve the problem?
i) Why/ Intel`s share of the tablet market/ reduce?
j) What/ investors/ say?

Business Result
Reading Comprehension
Unit 2.Contacts.
Text 2. (Intermediate)

Virtual Office Management Means Effective Communication

Bob Dylan had it right when he wrote his lyrics "The times, they are a
changing." In today's highly competitive world, if entrepreneurs don't catch up or
keep up with the latest advances in technology and management, they're doomed to
fall behind.
A smart move that can save entrepreneurs money - and at the same time
implement the latest in technology and management resources - is the virtual
office. Very simply, a virtual office is one where employees may no longer be
housed on site; in fact, they could be spread across the U.S. or even the world.
The term "virtual conversations" illustrates the idea perfectly –
conversations that take place via instant messaging or on social networking sites
such as Facebook, MySpace and chat rooms.
In a virtual office, employees work out of their own homes, a rented office
space or a larger, shared office building.
The virtual office contains a computer, printer and fax machine among
other equipment. Often the computers have webcams which allow video
conferencing.
For meetings, many employees use software such as GoToMeeting that
enables them to see each others' computer screens without leaving their own desks,
even if the meeting is taking place thousands miles away. This way, an individual
can work with others and actually share their screens. This helps members linked
into the meeting to view slides or software from various sites. Webinars use this
process to reach out to a large number of participants at the same time. In
5
Webinars, meeting attendees can also use their telephones to talk to the presenter
or moderator and sometimes to each other. The cost of this equipment is more
than offset by the savings realized by not having to pay travel expenses, site rentals
or office space rent.
What do virtual employees like about this system? Sharyn Katz, accounting
manager for Boston Software Systems Inc., in Sherborn, Massachusetts, says, "I
enjoy the independence and freedom of being able to set my own workflow based
on the company's needs and priorities."
Certainly, she must be prepared to "deliver the goods" when her boss needs
them, but she has a great deal of freedom when creating her own schedule. Others
say they enjoy not having to report to an office on a regular basis. They can work
from their own home or another space. In fact, they can be wherever they like – a
client's office, the library, the coffee shop, the beach – wherever they feel content
and most productive.
Other employees say they enjoy being almost totally responsible for
themselves with no boss or supervisor hanging around their desk, looking over
their shoulder or pressuring them for work results. Many employees who prefer the
independence of working alone in a virtual environment say they economize the
bother, distraction and negative office politics found in the traditional office
setting.
Deb Beck and Dave Linde, principals of Studio 18 Group in Wellesley,
Massachusetts, both say they've benefited from gaining strategic management
clients throughout the U.S. They've accomplished this not through face-to-face
business development meetings, but rather by using electronic tools to increase
their client base. Finally, virtual employees are economized the expense,
frustrations and time loss commuting to a traditional office location.
Along with these positive features obviously come negative ones. The chief
complaint most virtual employees’ is social isolation. There's no water cooler or
"coffee klatch" for a casual exchange of comments, work-related or not. They can't
simply walk down the corridor to chat with a colleague, even for a few minutes.
For these staff members, seeing other employees on a computer or video
conferencing screen simply does not replace personal contact. As for time off,
those without firm personal or professional boundaries can end up spending much
of their non-work hours back at their desk, pounding out more work and forgetting
about the importance of work-life balance.
Another drawback is that it's too easy to start work late, run an errand or
find a distraction rather than doing one's work. Frequently, these behaviors are the
means of compensating for the lack of having other people to interact with.
A further disadvantage of a virtual office when compared to a traditional
one is that in a conventional office, if employees need additional guidance or
direction on a project or task, they can simply walk down the hall to speak with
someone. In the virtual office, it sometimes takes more time to get information,
especially when the key person, or an alternate, isn't available.
Given these positive and negative factors, what cautions exist for the
effective entrepreneur who wants to create a virtual office?
6
 First, hire the right people. This is true in any company, but even more so
in the virtual one. Deb Beck of Studio 18 Group says that successful virtual
employees are "self-starters and self-disciplined – it's definitely lonely working in
a vacuum, and they need to be able to deal with this." Katz echoes Beck, saying
that effective virtual employees, "need to connect with other outside communities,"
not just the virtual work environment they're in.
The virtual leader needs to have the utmost trust in new hires. The leader
will not physically see or interact with employees as easily as in a traditional
company. Therefore, business owners in these settings must have an extremely
high level of confidence in their employees. Employees need to be exceedingly
self-reliant and committed to the task and the organization; self-motivated to work
independently and without much supervision; and dedicated to the success of their
work. Productivity, self-efficiency and autonomy are essential.
Even though virtual employees need to be self-reliant and self-directed, the
effective virtual entrepreneur needs to set realistic criteria and check-in time. To be
able to manage someone from a distant location you must have some type of
criteria to measure progress and success; e.g., total contacts made or total widgets
produced. Some leaders reserve a particular time of the day or week for call-ins or
staff meetings, using GoToMeeting or video-conferencing products.
Communication needs to be sufficient, frequent and intense enough to
satisfy both the employer and the employee. Many set temporary deadlines for
projects so there are no surprises or gaps. Some, like Boston Software Systems,
Inc., organize regional or national retreats once or twice a year. The purpose of
these get-togethers is varied: opportunities for social interaction with employees
who may never have met or who need to get to know each other; management and
productivity purposes to discuss and improve processes, policies and procedures;
information sharing; and creating a sense of unity, team building.
A virtual office in this era of cost-cutting can save you a great deal of
money. However, the prospective virtual entrepreneur needs to enter into this state-
of-the-art management concept with goals of hiring the most appropriate
employees and creating a fail-safe process.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/199002

1) Look through the sentences and decide which of them are True (T), False
(F) or Not Stated(N)
a) Latest technological innovations help businessmen not to fall behind.
b) An employee without a diploma can`t be a virtual office worker.
c) A virtual office is a usual office in the company, but all computers have web
cameras there.
d) To conduct webinars is cheaper, because there`s no need to pay travel expenses,
office space rent, etc.
e) Working in a virtual office a person can be anywhere he feels most productive
and comfortable: at home, in the restaurant, at the beach, etc.

7
f) One spends more time to get to the virtual office than to the traditional office
location.
g) One of the biggest disadvantages is having no people around to communicate.
h) In a virtual office it is not easier to be totally concentrated than in the tradional
one.
i) Virtual office workers have eyesight problems because they always sit in front
of the computer.
j) It`s not a problem that in a virtual office an employee can`t ask anobody for a
piece of advice.

2) Choose the best answer to complete the following sentences.

a) Virtual office workers _______.
1. live in a definite area
2. can reside at any part of the world
b) The term “virtual conversartion” means _______.
1. conversations via Internet
2. imaginary communication
c) Large number of participants is possible through _______.
1. seminars on the web
2. face-to-face meetings
d) Employees like to work in a virtual office because there are no _______.
1. any rules
2. people to supervise you all the time
e) For some staff members it is not enough _______.
1. to communicate on-line
2. to have no interactions with other employees
f) Successful virtual employee is _______.
1. confident and with no connections outside the office
2. self-disciplined and able to work alone
g) The leader must be sure that his employees _______.
1. can work long hours
2. are commited to the task and value the organisation
h) To measure the progress of employees some leaders _______.
1. set a particular time during a day to have a controlling conversation
2. use special programs to indicate criteria of evaluation
i) Interaction must be _______ so that both, an employee and an employer, were
satisfied.
1. intensive and frequent enough
2. intense and not very often
j) A virtual office _______ for the businessmen.
1. can be very costly
2. can save the money

3) Use definitions and clues below to find words from the text.

8
a) e_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ r : someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture
to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what, how,
and how much of a good or service will be produced;
b) i_ _ _ _ _ _ _t: to put a plan or system into operation;
c) w_ _ _ _ _r: an occasion when a group of people go online at the same time to
study and discuss something;
d) t_ _ _ _l e_ _ _ _ _ _s: money that your employer pays you because you are
spending that amount on travel which is necessary for your work;
e) s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _r: person in the first-line management who monitors and
regulates employees in their performance of assigned or delegated tasks;
f) w_ _ _ _ _ _w: progression of steps (tasks, events, interactions) that comprises a
work process, involves two or more persons, and creates or adds value to the
organization's activities;
g) c_ _ _ _t b_ _ e: the regular customers that a business has;
h) v_ _ _ _ _l o_ _ _ _e: mobile or remote work-environment equipped with
telecommunication links and basic office furniture, but without a fixed office
space;
i) d_ _ _ _ _ _ e: a final time that a task must be completed by;
j) g_ _: amount by which a need exceeds resources.

4) Fill in the gaps using the words and word-combinations from the text.
(personal contact, client base, virtual conversation, social isolation, work-life balance,
additional guidance, community, check-in time, deadline, cost-cutting)
a) The staff is processing our old (….) to save only relevant contacts.
b) At work we are having very strict rules concerning our (….): we have to come to
the office at 8.00.
c) My boss is always setting a (….) almost impossible to meet.
d) One of my colleagues spends days and nights at work, she doesn`t keep (….).
e) To avoid undesirable contacts John uses (….).
f) This client is very important and I am trying to establish (….) with him.
g) All our employees belong to (….) of virtual office workers.
h) At the moment I am working at home but I am going to give up the job because
of (….).
i) Each employee needs (….) from time to time, because one can`t know
everything.
j) This technology is (….), even cheap.

5) Make questions in Present Simple or Present Continuous about virtual

office management using prompts below.
a) What / save/ businessman`s money?
b) How/ leaders/ operate/ virtual offices/ nowadays?
c) What/ employees/ use/ while working at the virtual office?
d) Why/workers/ like their position?
e) How/ the leaders/ know / the employee is responsible?
f) What for/ they/ cobstantly use webinars?

9
g) Social isolation/ bother/ the stuff?
h) Why/ some people/ constantly forget/ about the importance of work-life
balance?
i) What/ the reason of frequent distractions?
j) What/ the leaders/ try to do/ at the moment?

Business Result
Reading Comprehension
Unit 3. Visitors.
Text 2. (Intermediate)

Business Structure Basics

Of all the decisions you make when starting a business, probably the most
important one relating to taxes is the type of legal structure you select for your
company.
This decision not only will have an impact on how much you pay in taxes,
but it will affect the amount of paperwork your business is required to do, the
personal liability you face and your ability to raise money.
The most common forms of business are sole proprietorship, partnership,
corporation and S-corporation. A more recent development to these forms of
business is the limited liability company (LLC) and the limited liability partnership
(LLP). Because each business form comes with different tax consequences, you
will want to make your selection wisely and choose the structure that most closely
matches your business's needs.
If you decide to start your business as a sole proprietorship but later decide
to take on partners, you can reorganize as a partnership or other entity. If you do
this, be sure you notify the IRS as well as your state tax agency.
The simplest structure is the sole proprietorship, which usually involves
just one individual who owns and operates the enterprise. If you intend to work
alone, this structure may be the way to go.
The tax aspects of a sole proprietorship are appealing because the expenses
and your income from the business are included in your personal income tax
return, Form 1040. Your profits and losses are recorded on a form called Schedule
C, which is filed with your 1040. The "bottom-line amount" from Schedule C is
then transferred to your personal tax return. This is especially attractive because
business losses you suffer may offset the income you have earned from your other
sources.
As a sole proprietor, you must also file a Schedule SE with Form 1040.
You use Schedule SE to calculate how much self-employment tax you owe. In
addition to paying annual self-employment taxes, you must make estimated tax
payments if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal taxes for the year after
deducting your withholding and credits, and your withholding will be less than the
smaller of: 1) 90 percent of the tax to be shown on your current year tax return, or
2) 100 percent of your previous year's tax liability.

10
 The federal government permits you to pay estimated taxes in four equal
amounts throughout the year on the 15th of April, June, September and January.
With a sole proprietorship, your business earnings are taxed only once, unlike
other business structures. Another big plus is that you will have complete control
over your business – you make all the decisions.
There are a few disadvantages to consider, however. Selecting the sole
proprietorship business structure means you are personally responsible for your
company's liabilities. As a result, you are placing your assets at risk, and they
could be seized to satisfy a business debt or a legal claim filed against you.
Raising money for a sole proprietorship can also be difficult. Banks and
other financing sources may be reluctant to make business loans to sole
proprietorships. In most cases, you will have to depend on your financing sources,
such as savings, home equity or family loans.
If your business will be owned and operated by several individuals, you'll
want to take a look at structuring your business as a partnership. Partnerships come
in two varieties: general partnerships and limited partnerships. In a general
partnership, the partners manage the company and assume responsibility for the
partnership's debts and other obligations. A limited partnership has both general
and limited partners. The general partners own and operate the business and
assume liability for the partnership, while the limited partners serve as investors
only; they have no control over the company and are not subject to the same
liabilities as the general partners.
Unless you expect to have many passive investors, limited partnerships are
generally not the best choice for a new business because of all the required filings
and administrative complexities. If you have two or more partners who want to be
actively involved, a general partnership would be much easier to form.
One of the major advantages of a partnership is the tax treatment it enjoys.
A partnership does not pay tax on its income but "passes through" any profits or
losses to the individual partners. At tax time, the partnership must file a tax return
(Form 1065) that reports its income and loss to the IRS. In addition, each partner
reports his or her share of income and loss on Schedule K-1 of Form 1065.
Personal liability is a major concern if you use a general partnership to
structure your business. Like sole proprietors, general partners are personally liable
for the partnership's obligations and debts. Each general partner can act on behalf
of the partnership, take out loans and make decisions that will affect and be
binding on all the partners (if the partnership agreement permits). Keep in mind
that partnerships are also more expensive to establish than sole proprietorships
because they require more legal and accounting services.
The corporate structure is more complex and expensive than most other
business structures. A corporation is an independent legal entity, separate from its
owners, and as such, it requires complying with more regulations and tax
requirements.
The biggest benefit for a business owner who decides to incorporate is the
liability protection he or she receives. A corporation's debt is not considered that of
its owners, so if you organize your business as a corporation, you are not putting
11
your personal assets at risk. A corporation also can retain some of its profits
without the owner paying tax on them.
Another plus is the ability of a corporation to raise money. A corporation
can sell stock, either common or preferred to raise funds. Corporations also
continue indefinitely, even if one of the shareholders dies – sells the shares – or
becomes disabled. The corporate structure, however, comes with a number of
downsides. A major one is higher costs. Corporations are formed under the laws of
each state with its own set of regulations. You will probably need the assistance of
an attorney to guide you. In addition, because a corporation must follow more
complex rules and regulations than a partnership or sole proprietorship, it requires
more accounting and tax preparation services.
Another drawback of forming a corporation: owners of the corporation pay
a double tax on the business's earnings. Not only corporations are a subject to
corporate income tax at both the federal and state levels, but any earnings
distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends are taxed at individual tax rates
on their personal income tax returns.
One strategy to help soften the blow of double taxation is to pay some
money out as salary to you and any other corporate shareholders who work for the
company. A corporation is not required to pay tax on earnings paid as reasonable
compensation, and it can deduct the payments as a business expense. However, the
IRS has limits on what it believes to be reasonable compensation.
http://www.business.govt.nz/starting-and-stopping/business-structures

1) Look through the sentences and decide which of them are True (T), False
(F).
a) The most common forms of organising a business are sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation and S-corporation.
b) The simplest structure is the sole proprietorship, which usually involves just two
people who own and operate the enterprise.
c) Selecting the sole proprietorship business structure doesn’t mean you are
personally responsible for your company's liabilities.
d) There are two kinds of partnerships: general partnerships and limited
partnerships.
e) A limited partnership includes only general partners.
f) One of the main disadvantages of a partnership is the tax treatment it enjoys.
g) Personal liability is a major concern if you use a general partnership to build
your business.
h) A corporation requires complying with more regulations and tax requirements.
i) If a businessman organises a corporation he risks losing the money.
j) Corporation continues to operate even after the death of its owner.

2) Choose the best answer to complete the following sentences.

a) The most important decision you make when setting up a business is_______
you select for your company.
1. the staff

12
 2. the type of legal structure
b) You will want to make your selection carefully and choose the best structure for
your business's needs because _______.
1. each business form has different tax consequences
2. each business form comes with different number of people involved
c) If you decide to start your business as a sole proprietorship _______.
1. be ready to pay a lot
2. be sure you notify the IRS and your state tax agency
d) The tax aspects of a sole proprietorship are appealing because _______.
1. the expenses and the income from the business are included on your
personal income tax return
2. the expenses and your income from the business are excluded from your
personal income tax return
e) You use Schedule SE to calculate _______.
1. the amount self-employment tax you owe
2. how much debt you owe
f) With a sole proprietorship, your business earnings are taxed _______.
1. in four equal amounts throughout the year on the 15th of April, June,
September and January
2. one time a year
g) Banks and other financing sources _______ to make business loans to sole
proprietorships.
1. aren`t eager
2. would like
h) The general partners own and operate the business and assume liability for the
partnership, while the limited partners _______.
1. can`t operate the business single-handed
2. only give money
i) Remember that partnerships are also more expensive to establish than sole
proprietorships because _______.
1. the procedure demands more legal and accounting services
2. they require attorney services
j) Another minus to forming a corporation: owners of the corporation pay
_______.
1. a double fine
2. bigger tax on the business's earnings

3) Match the words from the left column with their definitions from the right.
1. corporation A. the activity of creating businesses and managing them

2. limited liability B. the way something is considered and examined

3. enterprise C. a duty or obligation to pay money, deliver goods, or render
service under an express or implied agreement
4. income D. the disadvantage of a situation
5. loan E. compulsory monetary contribution to the state's revenue,
13
 assessed and imposed by a government on the activities,
enjoyment, expenditure, income, occupation, privilege,
property, etc., of individuals and organizations

6. partnership F. the legal position of having to pay only a limited amount of

the debts of a company that you have invested in
7. treatment G. the position of being one of two or more people who own a
company as partners
8. tax H. a large company or business organization
9. debt I. money that someone gets from working or from investing
money
10. downside J. an amount of money that a person, business,
or country borrows, especially from a bank

4) Fill in the gaps using the word-combinations from the text.

(corporate structure, S corporation, general partnership, limited partnership,
estimated tax, sole proprietorship, liabilities, accounting services, home equity, personal
assets, tax treatment)
a) Businessmen often depend on (….) when they start a business, because it is
difficult to raise money in case of (….).
b) All companies pay (….).
c) Why does this legal structure of a business have a better (….) than another one?
d) One of the forms of a structure of a business is (….).
e) The partners manage the company and assume responsibility for the
partnership's debts and other obligations in a (….), don`t they?
f) Are you sure that this person isn`t reponsible for the company`s (….)?
g) There are both general and limited partners in a (….).
h) What does a businessman is putting at stake when is risking his (….)?
i) Inside a company there is a definite (….) that regulates all kinds of relations.
j) Who is going to provide our company with (….)? We need to count our budget.

5) Complete the sentences using the verbs below in the Present Simple or
Present Continuous.
require distribute pay establish comply
organise select match earn guide

a) At the moment our corporation _______ managers for the new project.
b) The big company _______ a new corporate structure every 5 years.
c) These days our business _______ with European tax rules.
d) To start a business _______ the great patience and careful thinking.
e) Your business policy _______ mine, let`s start a business together.
f) Now the firm _______ twice more than the previous year.
g) Our company _______ big taxes at the moment because we registered as a
corporation.
h) My chief _______ me all the time! I really want to do something myself.

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i) Do you know that John _______ a sole proprietorship?
j) My partner and I _______ our goods together.

Business Result
Reading Comprehension
Unit 4.New Product.
Text 2. (Intermediate)

New Product Development: Stages and Methods

In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) is the term
used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product or service to the
market. There are two parallel paths involved in the NPD process: one involves the
idea generation, product design, and detail engineering; the other involves a market
research and a marketing analysis. Companies typically see new product
development as the first stage in generating and commercializing new products
within the overall strategic process of product life cycle management used to
maintain or grow their market share.
The new product development process has the potential to be haphazard
because of the inherent uncertainty in the process, as well as the myriad methods
available for product development. Setting up an organizing framework to identify
the stages in the process, and the methods applicable to each stage, should help in
bringing order to the process.
Our purpose in this article is to lay out a framework and identify key
methods that are most likely to be useful in each stage. The focus here is on
methods that use quantitative data collected mainly through the web thus bringing
more validity and flexibility to the process along with speed to market.
Many methods are available for the idea generation stage such as
brainstorming, Delphi and focus groups. The basic approach is to harness creativity
in some form for the development of new ideas. While there is much to
recommend for the more qualitative approaches, one of the drawbacks is the lack
of quantitative validity to the ideas at this stage. That is, the ideas have not been
shown to have popularity in the constituency that matters the customers. We have
found that the Smart Incentives approach can provide both creativity and validation
in the same step. Respondents to a survey compete with each other to produce
ideas thus introducing creativity into the process. The generated ideas are then
evaluated by a peer group to provide the required market validation. This approach
can be useful for generating ideas on both whole products and individual features.
Feature development is the process of identifying features that would be of
interest to customers. Traditional methods such as Importance Scales can be used,
but may not provide sufficient discrimination between features. Pairwise
comparisons of features are a straightforward method for identifying feature
importance. The task is simple, but can be tedious if a large list of features needs to
be culled. More recently developed methods such as Max-Diff scaling can provide
a better alternative. Max-Diff is similar to pairwise comparison, except that more

15
than two features are evaluated at a time (3-5) and the most and the least preferred
alternative is chosen from each set. Some advanced statistical analysis on the back
end provides a score for each feature that is generally more discriminatory than a
regular importance scale.
Another alternative is the Kano method where the positive and negative
aspect of each feature is rated in order to distinguish the “must have“ features from
the “nice to have” features. The final method in this stage (that straddles this and
the next stage) is the Self-explicated Method (SEM). Respondents rate the
desirability of each level of each attribute as well as the importance of each
attribute. Combining these two pieces of information gives attractiveness scores
(similar to conjoint utilities) for each attribute level. Although all attributes and
levels are rated by respondents (as in conjoint analysis), since they are presented
individually, this method may be more appropriately seen as useful for feature
development.
In the stage of product development, combinations of features are used to
build or evaluate the product. The Configurator allows survey respondents to build
their ideal product by selecting from a list of available features. Usually prices are
provided at the feature level to ensure that respondents make realistic decisions. As
respondents build their own ideal products, the most popular features and feature
combinations rise to the surface, resulting in the automatic development of
preference based market segments. The Optimizer is different in that respondents
make choices of fully formed products. Information from their choices is taken into
account in creating successive products that are more preferred till the process
finally converges on the respondent’s ideal product. This method is more
appropriate when the design and packaging (i.e. the visual element) is more
important. As with the Configurator, the market segments itself into preference
based segments.
The various flavors of conjoint (such as traditional, discrete, adaptive
choice) can also be used in this stage to identify feature importance. But care has to
be taken to ensure that the basic assumptions are met and that the right type of
conjoint is used.
Conjoint analysis can be fruitfully used in this stage also to estimate the
interest in various product combinations and especially in running market
simulations. The latter ability is very important in cases where a strong competitive
market exists and reasonably estimates of taking rates and ability to choose the
ideal combination for the market are requisites. Concept testing is much more
limited than conjoint and is usually used when the product is almost set except for,
perhaps, one or two questions, often relating to a price.
In short, the chaos of the product development process can be structured,
and appropriate methods applied to gain maximum benefit at different stages.
http://www.venturenavigator.co.uk/content/294

1) Look through the sentences and decide which of them are True (T), False
(F).

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a) There are two parallel ways involved in the process of new product design: one
is connected with the idea generation, product design, and detail engineering; the
other – a market research and a marketing analysis.
b) Companies regard new product development as the secondary stage in
generating and commercializing new products.
c) The main approach while generating ideas is to harness creativity in some
particular form for the development of new ideas.
d) The Smart Incentives approach can’t function effectively, providing both
creativity and validation at the same time.
e) Feature development is the process of recognising qualities that would be
interesting to managers.
f) Respondents create their own ratings of the desirability and the importance of
each attribute.
g) Sometimes prices are provided at the feature level to ensure that respondents
make realistic decisions.
h) Max-Diff is very alike to a pairwise comparison, except that more than two
features are evaluated at a time and the most and the least preferred alternative is
chosen from each set.
i) Conjoint analysis can be efficiently used to calculate the rates in various product
combinations.
j) Concept testing is much more restricted than conjoint and is usually used when
the product is almost set except for, perhaps, one or two questions, often relating to
a price.

2) Choose the best answer to complete the following sentences.

a) In business new product development (NPD) is the term used to
describe_______.
1. the full process of bringing a new product or service to market
2. the complete process of renewing a product or service in the market
b) Creating an organizing framework to clear up the stages in the process, and the
methods possible to use in each stage, should help_______.
1. in bringing order to the customer`s attitudes
2. in making the process more carefully arranged
c) Many methods can be used during _______ such as brainstorming, focus group
and others.
1. the Delphi stage
2. the idea generation stage
d) Traditional methods such as Importance Scales can be used in _______, but may
not provide clearly visible discrimination between features.
1. feature provision stage
2. the process of identifying features
e) Pairwise comparisons of features are _______ for identifying feature
importance.
1. an uncomplicated means
2. a unique method
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f) In the Kano method the positive and negative aspect of each feature is rated in
order to distinguish_______.
1. the necessary features from the likely features
2. the “must have“ ideas from the “nice to have” ideas
g) The final method in this stage is _______.
1. the SEM
2. the Self-explained Method
h) In the stage of product development, _______ are used to build or evaluate the
product.
1. combinations of strategies
2. numbers of qualities
i) As respondents build their own ideal products, _______ rise to the surface.
1. the most popular images and imaginative combinations
2. the most liked features and combinations of enjoyed qualities
j) Concept testing is much more limited than conjoint and is usually used_______.
1. when the stage is almost set except for perhaps one or two questions, often
relating to a price
2. when the product is almost ready

3) Circle the most appropriate synonym according to the contextual meaning

of the underlined word.
a) path: b) complete:
1. trajectory 1. full
2. way 2. finished
3. direction 3. thorough

c) cycle: d) framework:
1. event 1. structure
2. time 2. skeleton
3. period 3. plan

e) brainstorming: f) peer:
1. solution 1. noble
2. discussion 2. equal
3. suggestion 3. companion

g) feature: h) distinguish:
1. shape 1. recognize
2. characteristic 2. characterise
3. form 3. differentiate

i) evaluate: j) surface:
1. determine 1. view
2. judge 2. appearance

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3. discuss 3. top

4) Fill in the gaps using the word-combinations from the text.

(straightforward, desirability, generate, harness, framework, respondents, validation, peer
group, tedious, brainsgtorming)
a) I was given a very (….) task – to copy a pile of documents.
b) She was the leader in her focus group and gave a task to (….) as many ideas as
possible until the other day.
c) To (….) Jane`s creativity was really challenging task, but our chief could do it.
d) Our team had to create a new brand image and we started with (….) session.
e) The company made a research and asked customers whether they were satisfied
with their services: 56 % of (….) were dissatisfied.
f) One can`t publish anything without (….) of the information.
g) All memebers of this (….) said they liked this fragrance by Lacoste.
h) Our top manager developed the (….) of our future pfoject and gave it to us for
correction.
i) Marketing manager didn`t take into account a very important factor – (….) of
the product.
j) We chose a very (….) plan, because we decided that simplicity is the key to our
success.

5) Complete the sentences (1-10) with suitable endings (a-h).

1. Yesterday the focus group of our
company
2. I was surprised that
3. Last year, after passing all stages of c. while I was harnessing my anger.
the NPD
4. I tried to validate the article
5. My boss was generating a new
brand concept
6. All our respondents said that
7. My colleague was thinking of my
words
8. Ann identified features that would
be of interest to customers because
9. I suggested that we should use the
Kano method
10. According to our survey
a. the market share of our company
grew.
b. when the door opened and I came in.
d. she took into account the factor of
desirability
e. while the team was evaluating
advantages of Max-Diff scaling.
f. the most popular features were the
red colour and strawberry taste of a
chewing gum.
g. discussed the new product
developing.
h. while my focus group was
developing ideas in a brainstorming
session.
i. I had to drive my partner to his place
after the dinner.
j. they didn`t know about the new
product.

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