Testi BE

1) BRAND

RESTLESS PURSUER OF LUXORY’S FUTURE

Sidney Toledo is One of the longest serving CEO in the luxury industry. He travels almost every week visiting
the 224 stores around the world. Due to the globalization, he has to balance the need for exclusivity and
the need of expand, demands of shareholders and values of a historic label. His best advise is to get out of
the Office when Times and bad, and spend time and organisation when things are good. He Is looking for
Newness and what he wants is to understand the people from different countries and what they want. In
facts it was by some time in China, for example, that he realised the China would one day be prime territory
of luxury: when he visited some factory owners were working so hard and then they bring him to a
restaurant, because they want to enjoy life. this is the moment when he thought that one day these people
are going to have money for spend it. For a Mr toledano what is important is to develop their networker
and their chain.

Now the next wave of luxury buyers is in Middle Eastern, Russia, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Mr Toledano believes that a brand should anticipate the customers needs and investor early in markets
that may not show real growth for up to six years.

VOCABULARY

Brand Loyalty = the tendency to always buy a particular brand

Brand Image= ideas and believes people have about the brand

Brand Stretching= when is using An existing name on another type of product

Brand Awareness= how familiar people are with the brand or its logo and slogan

Brand Name= the title given to a product by the company that makes it

Product launch= the introduction of a product to the market

product lifecycle= the length of time people continue to buy a product

product range= the set of products made by a company

product placement= when products are used in films or TV programmes

product endorsement= the use of a well known person to advertise products

market leader= the best selling product or brand in the market

market research= information about what consumers want or need

market share= the percentage of sales a company has

market challenger= the second best selling products or brand in the market

market segment= customers of a similar age, income level or social group

 2) TRAVEL

COUNTING THE WAYS TO BRIDGE THE GULF

Due to the open of routes, Travelling around the Middle East is easy. Mr moutran is the CEO of memac
Ogilvy&mather, Which is a multinational advertising and communication company. He spends 60% of this
working week in the year: he spent 200 days in Beirut, 30 days in Dubai, 40 days in bahrain and 25 days in
the UK, also he go once a year in South Africa and twice a year in Barcelona for conferences, and 4 time a
year he goes to Paris. He prefers the Middle East Airlines for its new aircraft and equipment, and well
trained, fresher and energetic staff. his second choice is Gulf Air, 3=emirates, 4=british Airways and air
France. He always travels with his wife who worked with her until very recently.

MEA is his favourite because the staff give him attention and respect: they get him a car to the airport, they
open a special counter for him and they also take him to the lounge, saving what of standing in line. in the
other airlines he doesn't get the extra special treatment, and he's so loyal to them.

the attitude of crew, staff and groundstaff is a very important element, because no one wants to travel who
is the stop that has a very bad attitude. the problems with the grounds staff are one of the reason he hates
travelling to the US because no one ever has time to answer a question. he also dislike the lack of openness
are shown by airlines when there are problems and delays.

VOCABULARY

Priorities of travel= safety, reliability, price, speed, comfort

Legroom=spazio per le gambe

Luggage=bagaglio

BRITISH AMERICAN
Underground subway
Citycenter downtown
Hand luggage Carry-on baggage
Single One way
Motorway (=autostrada) Freeway
Public toilet Rest room
Lift Elevator
Economy class Coach class
Bill Check
Booking Reservation
Queue Line
Timetable Schedule
Ground floor First floor
Return Round trip
Car park Parking lot

Peak travel= largest number of people are travelling

Check in= go to desk at hotel/airport to say you have arrived

Frequent-flyer points= awarded by airlines to reward customer loyalty

Upgrade= change to a better seat or level of service

Lounge= a room in hotel/airport where people can sit and relax

Boarding pass= a card you must show in order to get on a plane

Ground staff= all the people that work at an airport, but not the pilots or cabin crew

Compagnie low cost= “no frills companies” (frill= fronzolo/extra)

Trip= viaggio di lavoro

Arrange a meeting= organizzare un incontro

Make redunant= fire= licenziare

3) CHANGE

MERCEDES STAR TWINKLES ONCE MORE

In 2002 mercedes, as any luxury brand, fall and reported losses And saw it's quality slip (decadere) so far
that newspaper were full of stories of cars that kept on breaking down. During this, The CEO of Mercedes
was Mr Zetsche, And he said that Mercedes started to change their culture to recover from their precedent
losses. In fact in 3 years it has gone from the worst performing to be the best performing. The executives
(dirigenti) of mercedes’ challenger (bmw) were envious (invidiosi) of their 9% return on sale, because return
on sale of bmw was about 5%. Much of that turnaround is due to Mr Zetsche, who has been the most
successful automotive executive. He said that combining roles is essential for his management style and is
also essential their team approach. He has been hard from the outset (è stato duro fin dall’inizio), cutting
the personnel, but this had dramatic effect on the bottom line.

mercedes reached recent success due to a big improvement in its product quality and the launch of some
praised (lodati) models, for example the new berlina c-class. one London analyst said that mercedes is
building cars that people want to buy and they are even better than BMW cars.

VOCABULARY

How do you deal w/ change? (moving house, losing a pet, moving to another country, changing your job,
driving abroad, a new boss, getting married, new neighbours…)

Which of these business situations would worry you the most: you found out your company will be merging
w/ another company; you keep your job after the merger, but you have to take a salary cut; your company
has to relocate to another city; you are asked to relocate to a foreign country; you have to decide who to
make redundant in your department; your company language becomes English.

4) ORGANISATION

SUCCESS CAN BE A GAME WITH MANY PLAYERS

Google has great philosophy based on the getting staff to meet each other, interact in informal settings and
encourage teamwork. They provide free food, snacks and gourmet meals in the canteen, I'm risking trips
are or games rooms at the office. For Google is very important to organise everything: From office
decorating to dancing and football with prizes for the winners. managers also receive a quarterly
celebratory found to reward accomplishments or to build teamwork by going bowling, go karting or dining
out. The “Best Workplace” survey Indicates that these initiatives have a powerful effect: In Italy everyone
agreed that there is it a family or team feeling in google.
Another part of Google objective is to make the workplace fun, by putting massage chairs, Table tennis,
video games, lava lamps, bicycles…

but when it comes to the serious business of work, a great emphasis is placed on engaging employees
(coinvolgimento dei dipendenti). This kind of policy gives employees a large degree of independence in
deciding how to work: how many hours and how they do their jobs.

5) ADVERTISING

Channel4 and Honda were having problem of viewers turning out (si disconnettono) of traditional
advertising, so they have turned (si sono rivolti) to a team of skydivers to tackle (affrontare) this problem.
During a tv programme the skydrivers spelt out the carmaker’s brand name. This campaign is the latest
attempt (ultimo tentativo) to find alternatives to the traditional 30 second spot and it was unique because it
happened in a live event.

Sky+ and tivo are a problem for advertiser because they enable viewers to skip adverts

They wanted to do something innovative and break the boundaries (confini) of tv advertising. Honda also
used Posters, tv ads, websites, digital advertising, press coverage.

This campaign was designed to generate the intangible buzz (ronzio) of word-of-mouth advertising, because
the skydiving would certainly go on youtube.

VOCABULARY

Publicity stunt= something done to get people’s attention

Design features= an important, interesting were typical part of something

Slogan= short phrase that is easy to remember

poster campaign= a series of actions intended to get a particular result

press coverage= newspapers and magazines

viral campaign= pieces of film or content which are picked up by individuals who see it, perhaps on
YouTube and passed on to their friends.

Billboard= a very large board in which advertisement are shown, especially at the side of a road

Advertorial common in beauty industry. It’s an advertisement that seems an article written by writers of
magazine. Nowadays is not common.

The 4 stages of a typical advertising campaign:

1. Briefing discussed with the client

2. take the briefing and articulated it for people who have to do recommendations
3. presentation, debate and discussion
4. execution phase
 6) MONEY

KIERAN PRIOR: GOLDMAN SACH’S WHIZZ-KID WHEELER DEALER

Kieran Prior is a whizz-kid (bambino prodigio) who worked at goldman sachs’s. he was born with a rare
condition that affects his movements and impairs his speech, he can’t get out of his wheel-chair unaided
(senza aiuto) and he has never been able to walk. Despit these physical limitations, prior is thriving
(fiorente) on goldman's trading desk and he has the admiration accorded while gaining experience,
confidence and responsibility. He is described as an exceptionally smart, perceptive guy who has
purposively rising to so many challenges. He is attracted to risks and challenges. His IQ is 238.

He can invests in any sector, but recently narrowed (ha ristretto) his focus on just 20 companies because of
the extreme volatility in the markets.

VOCABULARY

Shares= equal parts into which the capital or ownership of a campaign is divided

Recession= a period of time when business activity decreases because the economy is doing badly

equity stake= money risks when a business owns part of another company

stock market (mercato azionarioborsa) = a place where company shares are bought and sold

forecast (previsione)= a description of what is likely to happen in the future

debt= money owed by one person or organisation to another person or organisation

Profit margin= the difference between the price of a product or service and the cost of producing it

Investment= money which people or organisation put into our business to make profit

Bankruptcy= when a person or organisations is unable to pay their debts

Dividend= how far to over company’s profits paid to the owners of shares

pre tax profits= money a business makes before the payment to the government

annual turnover (fatturato) = the amount of money which a business obtains in a year for our customers by
selling goods or services

Return= the amount of profit made from an investment (Guadagno, rendimento)

Inflation= a general increase in prices and all in the purchasing value of money (inflazione)

Stock= the capitale raised by a company or corporation…

Hedge= a way of protecting oneself against financial loss or other adverse circumstances (copertura dai
rischi)

Equities= stocks and shares that carry no fixed interest (equity, patrimonio netto)

Absolute return (si legge APSOLUT con la p)= the return that an asse achieves over a specified period
(rendimento assoluto)

Bear market= financial market in which prices are falling

Traders= people who deal in shares and bones

financial analyst= someone who carefully examining the financial state of the company
volatility= sudden and quick change

trading desk= an area of financial market where a particular company does business

equities= the capital the company has from shares rather than from loans (prestiti)

research analysis= the careful examination of the performance of companies and stocks

business sector= the part of economy made up by companies

earning= the profit that accompany makes in a particular period of time

derivatives= things such as options or futures based on underlying assets such as shares, bonds end
currencies

Verbs to describe a graph: p56

- Decline, fall, decrease

- Gain, increase, rise, improve
- Double, triple, halve
- level off, stabilized
- peak
- rocket, jump
- fluctuate
- plummet
- recover

DESCRIBING TRENDS

 DATA PRESENTATIONS: date can be presented in several ways= tables, graphs (like … screen ipad)
Tables= (vertical) colomnes and lines (orizzontale)
Pie charts= a torta, divided in quarters
Bar graphs= a barre
Line graphs= a line spezzate

Maximum, minimum

Remain stable= to level off

Spike=goes up without expecting it

To improve= to rise, increase, recover, gain, double, triple, quadruple, increase tenfold/ninefold…

Rapidly growing= to rocket, to peak (=used when the line reach very fast the top and then starts going
down, it seems like a muntain), to soar, to jump

Slight movement upwards= to edge up (si crea come una collinetta)

Line goes down slowly= to decline, to decrease, to drop, to fall (SLIGHLTY OR GRADUALLY)

Line goes down very fast= to dive, to plummet, to halve (dimezzare)

Slight movement downwards= to dip (collinetta in negative), to edge down

To fluctuate= come seno/cosenomidly(più fitto) or widly (più disteso)

PREPOSITIONS to use: increased by 15%; sales decreased from 12£ to 5£; at the beginning of the year
profits stood (=stands) at 20000£; sales reached a peak of 7£ in July.

7) CULTURES

STANDARD BANK OVERCOMES CULTURE SHOCK

It's very common for multinational businesses to send employees on international assignments. but
without the right cross cultural skills, staff will often struggle. Mr Mullen is the CEO of Standard Bank, he
discusses the impact that cultural challenges can have on employees relocated in another country. in order
to be successfully transferred, employees must understand the host country culture. The different ways of
working, social skills, body language, ways of working need to be understood for everyone to work together
successfully. For example in South Africa is very common to ask personal question of their counterparts
after being introduced, while in London eat may be perceived as impolite and inappropriate. global
companies should never underestimate the effect that can have on international assignments. cultural
awareness is understanding of how and why cultures work differently.

Standard Bank operates in 38 different countries and its London office has over 50 nationalities. So it's very
important to communicate in order to work as just one team. Standard Bank decided to provide practical
support to employees that are coping with (face with) the challenges of living and working in an unfamiliar
environment. One possibly solution is to introduce delegates to some of the cake culture differences that
they are likely to face in the UK

VOCABULARY

culture shock= when you go in another country and you are dealing with situation you can’t deal and you
are feeling uncomfortable. There are 5 stages:

1. “honeymoon stage”= everything seems amazing

2. “hostility and irritability”= starting feeling homesick
3. Gradual adjustment
4. Adaptation
5. Re-entry travel shockwhen you come back you can’t stand people of your own country, and
everythink they do seems wrong

What is culture? Climate, religion, social customs and traditions, ceremonies and festivals, language,
cuisine, behaviour and attitudes, arts, architecture…

Idiomatic expression:

o break the ice= rompere il ghiaccio

o thrown it at the deep end= capultato nella mischia (in senso negativo)
o we don’t see eye to eye= non la vediamo allo stesso modo (in senso negativo)
o got into hot water= finire nei guai
o put my foot in it= fare una gaffe
o get on like a house on fire= andare d’accordo
o fish out of water= un pesce fuor d’acqua
o a real-opener= qualcosa che ti ha fatto aprire gli, una rivelazione
 8) HUMAN RESOURCES

ARTICLE

When Mrs Hang was a child she was poor, but now he has a career and social ambitious, she earns money
for the family and also she brings up children. Women are more respected in family and society, now
women can have an appropriate education and decide for their own future because they discovered their
worth and potential. Women represent 52% of the workforce in service sector, 50% in the agricultural and
fisheries sector and 37% in industry and construction. Almost a quarter of companies are run by women.
Hang says that women’s position has improved remarkably thanks to the effective policies of promoting
women.

But women still face with lot of difficulties, such as underemployment, domestic violence, prostitution and
gender inequality. In her opinion one possibly solution is to help women with their study and lead an active
lifestyle.

VOCABULARY

Which factors are important for getting a job? Appearance, experience, intelligence, references,
personality, qualifications and education. in Italy the most education labour very important is master.

appearance can't be the most important factor. it's important to keep your private life totally separate from
your work even if is very difficult. people during their working lives can change a lot growing or getting
angry. In America or UK is very common to change companies very frequently while in Italy doesn't. The
age of retire is depending on the job because on hand man should get retired sooner than a banker.

keep on file= mantenere in archivio

application form= documento da compilare in base alle proprie esperienzecome scrivere cv

To train new staff

too short list the candidates

to advertise vacancy or a post

to assemble an interview panel= group of people doing the same thing

to make a job offer

to cheque the references= something your previous boss wrights to you, and your potential new boss
needs to check

types or worker:

- Enthusiastic= has a lot of energy and often gets excited

- Adaptable= is able to change with the new situation
- Methodical= is concerned with details and getting things right even if it takes time
 - Reliable= someone you can trust and depend on
- Ambitious= determined to succeed in their career
- Objective= is able to see different points of view
- Creative= is able to come up with ideas
- Analytical= likes to assess and evaluate
- Authoritative= is respected and listened to by others
- Practical= can see how to put ideas into actions

Verbs:

Delayed= ha tardato; undertook= ha intrapreso; put off= rimandare; fill up a cv= riempire un cv

Steps to find a job

1. Write a CV
2. Upload online the cv or send it to the company with a cover letter where you present yourself
3. Send some references
The company that is searching should

1) Advertise the vacant positions and describe it

2) Look the cv and communicate them to do a job interview
3) Propose a contract, wich include a probationary period (=periodo di prova)

9) INTERNATIONAL MARKET

TRADE BETWEEN CHINA AND THE US in 2008

According to the White Paper in China the US should focus on improving their economic competitiveness,
instead of seeking protectionism to combat its economy slowdown. US should not argue for a stronger
currency to reduce its trade deficit with China, because yuan is not the fundamental cause of their deficit.
The US economy is currently slowing, while its trade deficit with china remains high. The deficit leads to
protectionism against Chinese goods and investment in the US.

US and China should collaborate, because an open US and an open China will lead to sustained benefits for
both.

Lots of US workers lost their jobs and even when they found new jobs, saw their earnings decrease.
A difference between Chinese and americans is that americans save less of their incomes than chinese

VOCABULARY

Wealth=stare bene economincamente

Health=stare bene fisicamente

Tariffs= taxes on imported goods

Subsidies= money given to the producer, paid by the government

Quotes= limits to the quantity that can be imported

expenses licences= special permission to import goods

difficult documentation make trades slower and less attractive

when there's a policy of deregulation companies compete freely. the benefits of free trade are: greater
choice of goods, better pay and better made products. some countries do not practise free trade because
they wish to fight against unfair competition (like dumping), protect the strategic industries which are
important to their economy and be less dependent on imports because their own economies need
developing.

Dumping= when a country or company exports a product at a price that is lower in foreign importing
market than the price in the exporter’s domestic market

Tenses in international market:

 We are trying to break into the Japanese market

 You should carry out a market survey before you make a major investment
 if you would like to place an order Viennetta, press one now
 if you can't meet the delivery date, let us know as soon as possible
 they have quoted as a very good price for the consignment (citato)
 let us know if you want us to arrange insurance cover for the shipment
 it’s essential to comply with all regulations if you want the delivery to go through without problems

opposite: free tradeprotectionism; upturn(miglioramento) slowdown; surplusdeficit;

disputecooperation; spendsave

OPEN MARKETS= trade without restriction on the PROTECTING MARKETS= trade with restriction on
movement of goods the movement of goods, for example import taxes

open borders, freeport, developing industries, barriers, developing industries, tariffs, strategic
laissez-faire, liberalize and deregulation industries, restrictions, quotas, customs, subside,
regulation

10) ETHICS

UNETHICAL ACTIVITIES

Common in Italy: finding ways of paying as little tax as possible, using your work computer or phone for
private purpose (now they put restrictions in the devices), phoning in sick at work when you are not ill
(occupational doctor confirms if you are ill), paying people in cash for jobs done around the home in order
to reduce the cost.
Others: accepting praise for someone else ideas or work (plagiarism), selling something as genuine when
you know it's not (counterfeited goods), use your influence to get jobs for friends or relatives (nepotism),
not telling the truth about your age or experience on an application form.

Insider trading= An employee inform some friends about the company takeover before it is generally
known so they can buy shares and make a profit

Sex discrimination= a company employs attractive women under 25 years old for example as a cabin crew
and ground staff

Environmental pollution= an industrial company is disposing of waste chemicals in the sea

industrial spionage= manufacturer is secretly taking photos of rival’s new model

money laundering= criminals buy property and expensive cars with money they got from illegal activities.
the goods are then sold and now clean money is used in other businesses and new bank accounts.

Price fixing= a group of rival companies get together and agree to charge approximately the same amount
for a range of services and packages

Tax fraud= the company that is making a lot less profit than it actually is

Animal testing= cosmetic and pharmaceutical company tries out of its products on animals

Nowadays is important for companies to change the way to operate to reduce their environmental impact.
Some companies have been charged or investigated for environmental pollution

11) LEADERSHIP

FATHER OF FEEL-GOOD FACTORY

Mr Owen-Jones for nearly 20 years was the CEO of L’Oreal so he spent a better part of his life convincing
women and men that l’oreal products will make them feeling good. It was a small company, but thought to
be going places and was considered a great example of creative marketing and original advertising
campaigns. he thanks his predecessor Dalle because he taught him basic business. He single-handedly ran
(gestito da solo) this company and thanks to him l’oreal annual sales rose a lot.

VOCABULARY

Characteristics of a great leader are proactive and authority. Other characteristics and their opposite:
assertivediffident; cautious(careful)decisive; encouragingcritical; casualformal;
idealisticrealistic; distantapproachable; ruthlessprincipled; dynamiclaid-back(relaxed);
radicalconservative

Tenses:

- To take on responsibility for something

- to be up to the job
- to put forward a proposal or suggestion
- to deal with a problem
- to end in your resignation
- to come in for criticism
 12) COMPETITION

MCDONALD’S STIRS UP BATTLE WITH STARBUCKS

The CEO of Starbucks, Donald, is going to be replace by Schultz. His appointment (nomina) comes after a
dark period, because it lost against its rivals such as DunkinDonuts and McDonald’s. Schultz is now set to
slow the expansion, closing under-performing stores. He will focus on the company’s international plans,
using money originally earnmarked for new stores, for its global expansion plans.

Mcdonald is set to take (deve affrontare) starbuck as a competitor in coffee market, in order to this,
mcdonald needs to improve its sector and open new coffee bars in US. The trial (sfida) involves recruiting
baristas, which is a term made famous by strabucks.

A difference between star and mc is that in star consumers can actually see their drinks being made, while
in mc that’s not possible. Mc is also using the costumers’ difficult in pronouncing “latte”, like they did in
consumer advertising in Kansas and it’s lowering their prices.

VOCABULARY

Very competitive-fairly competitive-not at all competitive

There are many ideas from sports use in business, particularly when talking about competition:

a level playing fieldfootball=conditions in a competition are fair for everyone

In the driving seatmotor racing=control of a situation

to be neck and neckhorse racing= very close (as in race)

flogging a dead horsehorse racing= wast energy on a situation that can’t be changed

a major playerfootball or baseball

move the goal postsfootball= change the rules in a way that makes success more difficult

keep your eye on the balltennis or every ball games= continue thinking about or give all the attention to
something important

ahead of the gamein any sports=likealy to succeed

a one horse racehorse racing= a contest in which one candidate or competitor is clearly superior to all
the others, so is certain it’s going to win

on the ropesboxing= state of near collapse or defeat

phrasal verbs:

- To be taken aback= be surprised

- Take off= grow rapidly
- Take on= give employment to
- Take out= arrange (organizzare) of money
- Take over= gain control of a company