Read the following article, and answer questions from 1 to 5 by choosing the right

answers A, B, C or D.
The 5 Biggest Retail Trends For 2023
Source: www.forbes.com
Retailers and brands are coming out of a pandemic that has essentially lasted three years.
Over the past year, challenges across the supply chain, inflationary pricing, economic
uncertainty, and geo-political factors have taxed retailers and squeezed the financials. With
the new year, however, there is a positive outlook and focus on the customer shopping
journey. As retailers adjust to a new normal, a seamless experience and hybrid shopping are
shaping the future of retail.
Here are the five biggest retail trends that will impact the industry in 2023.
Retail Media Networks
Physical retail stores and websites are becoming increasingly crucial as advertising sources
for their vendors. Selling marketing space to vendors is a growing revenue stream for retailers
and allows them to deepen their relationships with business partners. Ad space sales on
websites, in-store displays, mobile applications, and streaming services will continue to grow
across more retailers. The most significant growth, however, will come from streaming TV.
“Retail Media is moving aggressively to streaming TV, capturing the attention and budgets of
major brands,” stated Andrew Lipsman, Principal Analyst of Insider Intelligence.
The three largest U.S. retailers are leaders in optimizing retail media networks. Amazon took
advantage earlier on by using its newly acquired Thursday Night Football streaming events to
sell advertising space to its vendors and to maximize its marketing efforts. Kroger’s
partnership with Roku to sell commercials on the ad-supported CTV becomes even more
powerful if the potential merger with Albertsons goes through. Walmart has been working
with its vendors on retail media networks for many years and has created its own branded
network called Walmart Connect, which made over $2 billion in 2021 revenue. Advertising
revenues, excluding website placements, will grow 38% in 2023 to $6.5 billion. “This is the
holy grail for advertisers,” said Lipsman.
Social media sentiment monitoring
Social media sentiment monitoring is collecting and analyzing information on how people
talk about a retailer or brand on social media. Actively engaged on social media, retailers can
better understand data about their customers' sentiments, preferences, and attitudes toward
their company and its competitors. Retailers that create a large follower base can use data and
sentiment monitoring to understand the consumer mindset better and more accurately forecast
trends in shopping behaviors or product preferences. Monitoring social media and expanding
social commerce opportunities can create high loyalty with a fan base.
The continuing rise of social commerce presents a burgeoning opportunity for retailers and
brands because the hottest leads on TikTok today are people and influencers, not brands. As
yet, brands are missing out. Retailers have a golden opportunity to figure out how to create
revenue from social media and drive future social commerce if they can secure followings
like the top individual influencers. Once retailers figure out the TikTok model, it should
become a tremendous source of revenue. Live streaming to showcase events and deliver
personalized selling can fuel loyalty with social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop.
Hybrid shopping and seamless shopper journey
Retailers want to deliver a seamless experience across all shopping methods, including online,
in-store, mobile devices, social media, and live streaming. However, providing a holistic view
of the shopping journey requires that retailers merge the siloed data across every business
function into a synchronized format that all groups can view within an organization, including
merchants, marketing, store operations, digital teams, human resources, and finance. All
consumer shopping data has to be consistent and accurate; unstructured data needs to be
parsed into readable formats and merged with structured data, so decision-makers and
automatic processes can take proper actions. By synchronizing the data in near real-time,
various groups in an organization can collaborate and build strategies relevant to the core
market. Synchronized data allows for precise personalization for individuals and segmented
groups of customers. With the phasing out of third-party cookie data by 2024 that has been
widely available through Google, retailers will need to ramp up efforts to synchronize the
first-party data they have in their data warehouses to deliver a seamless, hybrid shopping
journey.
Store design shifts and mixed-use spaces
Store designs have been imperative over the past two years as retailers adjust store sizes and
dabble in experiential retailing. Larger format stores like Walmart and Target have tested
smaller formats like the Target Campus stores or Walmart’s Neighborhood Markets. At the
same time, Target recently announced it plans to invest in larger stores that offer 20,000 more
square feet of space than its average store and include new store design features. Many
retailers are adding features to support new shopping initiatives such as curbside pick-up,
fulfillment from stores, and pick-up in-store. Ulta Beauty recently announced its store
redesign that will put forth its beauty point of view through merchandising and design
elements.Mall developers and community leaders are leaning into the concept of mixed-use
space that offers shopping, living, dining, and other community spaces that serve a specified
market. In Columbus, OH, the business district is developing Gravity, which caters to artists,
social innovators, and entrepreneurs. New York’s Governor Hochul recently announced a $26
million mixed-use development to provide high-quality housing and commercial space in
Oswego as part of its Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
Consumerism curtailment
2023 is the year that we will see consumers slowing down — in other words, a consumerism
curtailment. Repair, recycling, reuse, and thrifting will grow. Simply put, consumers will buy
less stuff and be more invested in understanding the product life cycle. Retailers have already
started to address this area by adding pre-owned items to their product assortments. REI has
its pre-loved outdoor gear for sale for its members, and Lululemon has its Like New program.
Levi has worked with Thread-Up for many years, and Walmart has its pre-owned items for
sale. Patagonia has been a pioneer in transparency in the supply chain, and Everlane and
Eileen Fisher. As Gen Z earns more money and becomes more powerful in voting with their
dollars, companies focusing on sustainability will win out. Pre-owned products, recycling,
and reusing are becoming more mainstream and increasingly expected by consumers.
Among today’s retail trends, these five are the most relevant for the industry. Other focus
areas for retailers will be workforce reshaping (for example, achieving the proper balance of
on-site versus remote and creating environments of inclusivity) and community as a pillar of
investment and focus. The shopper journey remains center stage as the year winds down and
retailers look to the future.

1. What is one of the two things that are making a general impact on retailing?
A. prices as low as possible B. customers’ ability to customize shops
C. a perfect experience D. luxury items
2. Where does Mr. Lipsman work?
A. Insider Intelligence B. The Insider
C. Walmart D. Amazon and eBay
3. What can result from the supervision of social media platforms and the multiplication of
commercial opportunities?
A. construction of more physical retail stores
B. higher costs that customers have to pay
C. a chaotic market
D. greater customer loyalty
4. What do retail brands have to do with their data?
A. discard it B. change it C. synchronize it D. ignore it
5. What will give businesses an edge over their competitors when it comes to satisfying their
young customers?
A. luxury B. sustainability C. high prices D. complexity
References
Kohan, S. (2022, December 23rd). The 5 Biggest Retail Trends For 2023. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleykohan/2022/12/23/the-5-biggest-retail-trends-for-2023/?
sh=636d46db7176
Các nhà bán lẻ và thương hiệu đang thoát ra khỏi đại dịch về cơ bản đã kéo dài ba năm. Trong
năm qua, những thách thức trong chuỗi cung ứng, giá cả lạm phát, sự bất ổn về kinh tế và các
yếu tố địa chính trị đã đánh thuế các nhà bán lẻ và siết chặt tài chính. Tuy nhiên, sang năm
mới, có một cái nhìn tích cực và tập trung vào hành trình mua sắm của khách hàng. Khi các
nhà bán lẻ điều chỉnh theo trạng thái bình thường mới, trải nghiệm liền mạch và mua sắm kết
hợp đang định hình tương lai của ngành bán lẻ.
Dưới đây là năm xu hướng bán lẻ lớn nhất sẽ tác động đến ngành vào năm 2023.
Mạng truyền thông bán lẻ
Các cửa hàng và trang web bán lẻ thực tế đang ngày càng trở thành nguồn quảng cáo quan
trọng cho các nhà cung cấp của họ. Bán không gian tiếp thị cho nhà cung cấp là nguồn doanh
thu ngày càng tăng cho các nhà bán lẻ và cho phép họ tăng cường mối quan hệ với các đối tác
kinh doanh. Doanh số bán không gian quảng cáo trên các trang web, màn hình trong cửa
hàng, ứng dụng di động và dịch vụ phát trực tuyến sẽ tiếp tục tăng ở nhiều nhà bán lẻ hơn.
Tuy nhiên, sự tăng trưởng đáng kể nhất sẽ đến từ truyền hình trực tuyến. Andrew Lipsman,
Nhà phân tích chính của Insider Intelligence cho biết: “Truyền thông bán lẻ đang tích cực
chuyển sang truyền hình trực tuyến, thu hút sự chú ý và ngân sách của các thương hiệu lớn”.
Ba nhà bán lẻ lớn nhất của Hoa Kỳ là những người đi đầu trong việc tối ưu hóa mạng lưới
truyền thông bán lẻ. Amazon đã tận dụng lợi thế trước đó bằng cách sử dụng các sự kiện phát
trực tuyến Bóng đá Đêm Thứ Năm mới mua để bán không gian quảng cáo cho các nhà cung
cấp và tối đa hóa các nỗ lực tiếp thị của mình. Sự hợp tác của Kroger với Roku để bán quảng
cáo trên CTV hỗ trợ quảng cáo càng trở nên mạnh mẽ hơn nếu việc sáp nhập tiềm năng với
Albertsons thành công. Walmart đã làm việc với các nhà cung cấp của mình trên các mạng
truyền thông bán lẻ trong nhiều năm và đã tạo ra mạng lưới mang thương hiệu riêng của mình
có tên Walmart Connect, mang lại doanh thu hơn 2 tỷ USD vào năm 2021. Doanh thu quảng
cáo, không bao gồm các vị trí trên trang web, sẽ tăng 38% vào năm 2023 lên 6,5 tỷ USD.
Lipsman nói: “Đây là chén thánh dành cho các nhà quảng cáo.
Giám sát tình cảm truyền thông xã hội
Giám sát cảm xúc trên mạng xã hội là thu thập và phân tích thông tin về cách mọi người nói
về một nhà bán lẻ hoặc thương hiệu trên mạng xã hội. Tích cực tham gia vào phương tiện
truyền thông xã hội, các nhà bán lẻ có thể hiểu rõ hơn dữ liệu về cảm xúc, sở thích và thái độ
của khách hàng đối với công ty và đối thủ cạnh tranh. Các nhà bán lẻ tạo được lượng người
theo dõi lớn có thể sử dụng dữ liệu và giám sát cảm tính để hiểu rõ hơn suy nghĩ của người
tiêu dùng và dự báo chính xác hơn các xu hướng trong hành vi mua sắm hoặc sở thích sản
phẩm. Giám sát phương tiện truyền thông xã hội và mở rộng cơ hội thương mại trên mạng xã
hội có thể tạo ra lòng trung thành cao với lượng người hâm mộ.
Sự phát triển không ngừng của thương mại trên mạng xã hội mang đến cơ hội phát triển cho
các nhà bán lẻ và thương hiệu vì những khách hàng tiềm năng hấp dẫn nhất trên TikTok hiện
nay là con người và những người có ảnh hưởng chứ không phải thương hiệu. Tuy nhiên, các
thương hiệu vẫn đang bỏ lỡ. Các nhà bán lẻ có cơ hội vàng để tìm ra cách tạo doanh thu từ
mạng xã hội và thúc đẩy thương mại trên mạng xã hội trong tương lai nếu họ có thể đảm bảo
lượng người theo dõi như những cá nhân có ảnh hưởng hàng đầu. Một khi các nhà bán lẻ tìm
ra mô hình TikTok, nó sẽ trở thành một nguồn doanh thu khổng lồ. Phát trực tiếp để giới thiệu
các sự kiện và cung cấp hoạt động bán hàng được cá nhân hóa có thể thúc đẩy lòng trung
thành với các nền tảng thương mại xã hội như TikTok Shop.
Mua sắm kết hợp và hành trình mua sắm liền mạch
Các nhà bán lẻ muốn mang đến trải nghiệm liền mạch trên tất cả các phương thức mua sắm,
bao gồm trực tuyến, tại cửa hàng, thiết bị di động, mạng xã hội và phát trực tiếp. Tuy nhiên,
việc cung cấp cái nhìn toàn diện về hành trình mua sắm yêu cầu các nhà bán lẻ hợp nhất dữ
liệu riêng biệt trên mọi chức năng kinh doanh thành một định dạng đồng bộ mà tất cả các
nhóm có thể xem trong một tổ chức, bao gồm người bán, bộ phận tiếp thị, hoạt động cửa
hàng, nhóm kỹ thuật số, nhân sự và tài chính. . t cả dữ liệu mua sắm của người tiêu dùng phải
nhất quán và chính xác; Dữ liệu phi cấu trúc cần được phân tích cú pháp thành các định dạng
có thể đọc được và hợp nhất với dữ liệu có cấu trúc, để người ra quyết định và quy trình tự
động có thể thực hiện các hành động thích hợp. Bằng cách đồng bộ hóa dữ liệu gần như theo
thời gian thực, nhiều nhóm khác nhau trong tổ chức có thể cộng tác và xây dựng các chiến
lược phù hợp với thị trường cốt lõi. Dữ liệu được đồng bộ hóa cho phép cá nhân hóa chính
xác cho các cá nhân và nhóm khách hàng được phân khúc. Với việc loại bỏ dần dữ liệu cookie
của bên thứ ba vốn đã được phổ biến rộng rãi thông qua Google vào năm 2024, các nhà bán lẻ
sẽ cần tăng cường nỗ lực đồng bộ hóa dữ liệu của bên thứ nhất mà họ có trong kho dữ liệu của
mình để mang lại hành trình mua sắm kết hợp, liền mạch.
Cửa hàng thay đổi thiết kế và không gian sử dụng hỗn hợp
Thiết kế cửa hàng đã trở thành nhu cầu cấp thiết trong hai năm qua khi các nhà bán lẻ điều
chỉnh quy mô cửa hàng và lao vào bán lẻ trải nghiệm. Các cửa hàng có định dạng lớn hơn như
Walmart và Target đã thử nghiệm các định dạng nhỏ hơn như cửa hàng Target Campus hoặc
Chợ lân cận của Walmart. Đồng thời, Target gần đây đã công bố kế hoạch đầu tư vào các cửa
hàng lớn hơn với không gian rộng hơn 20.000 feet vuông so với cửa hàng trung bình và bao
gồm các tính năng thiết kế cửa hàng mới. Nhiều nhà bán lẻ đang bổ sung các tính năng để hỗ
trợ các sáng kiến mua sắm mới như nhận hàng ở lề đường, thực hiện đơn hàng từ cửa hàng và
nhận hàng tại cửa hàng. Ulta Beauty gần đây đã công bố thiết kế lại cửa hàng của mình nhằm
thể hiện quan điểm về vẻ đẹp thông qua các yếu tố thiết kế và bán hàng. Các nhà phát triển
trung tâm mua sắm và các nhà lãnh đạo cộng đồng đang nghiêng về khái niệm không gian sử
dụng hỗn hợp cung cấp các không gian mua sắm, sinh hoạt, ăn uống và các không gian cộng
đồng khác phục vụ một thị trường xác định. Ở Columbus, OH, khu kinh doanh đang phát triển
Gravity, phục vụ các nghệ sĩ, nhà đổi mới xã hội và doanh nhân. Thống đốc Hochul của New
York gần đây đã công bố dự án phát triển khu phức hợp trị giá 26 triệu đô la để cung cấp nhà
ở chất lượng cao và không gian thương mại ở Oswego như một phần của Sáng kiến Tái sinh
Trung tâm thành phố.
Cắt giảm chủ nghĩa tiêu dùng
Năm 2023 là năm mà chúng ta sẽ chứng kiến người tiêu dùng chậm lại - nói cách khác là chủ
nghĩa tiêu dùng bị cắt giảm. Việc sửa chữa, tái chế, tái sử dụng và tiết kiệm sẽ phát triển. Nói
một cách đơn giản, người tiêu dùng sẽ mua ít thứ hơn và đầu tư nhiều hơn vào việc tìm hiểu
vòng đời sản phẩm. Các nhà bán lẻ đã bắt đầu giải quyết vấn đề này bằng cách thêm các mặt
hàng đã qua sử dụng vào danh mục sản phẩm của họ. REI có bán các thiết bị ngoài trời được
yêu thích dành cho các thành viên và Lululemon có chương trình Like New. Levi đã làm việc
với Thread-Up trong nhiều năm và Walmart có bán các mặt hàng đã qua sử dụng. Patagonia
là công ty tiên phong về tính minh bạch trong chuỗi cung ứng, cũng như Everlane và Eileen
Fisher. Khi Gen Z kiếm được nhiều tiền hơn và trở nên có quyền lực hơn trong việc bỏ phiếu
bằng đồng đô la của mình, các công ty tập trung vào tính bền vững sẽ giành chiến thắng. Các
sản phẩm đã qua sử dụng, việc tái chế và tái sử dụng đang ngày càng trở nên phổ biến và
được người tiêu dùng mong đợi hơn.
Trong số các xu hướng bán lẻ ngày nay, năm xu hướng này có liên quan nhất đến ngành. Các
lĩnh vực trọng tâm khác dành cho các nhà bán lẻ sẽ là tái định hình lực lượng lao động (ví dụ:
đạt được sự cân bằng hợp lý giữa tại chỗ và từ xa và tạo ra môi trường hòa nhập) và cộng
đồng như một trụ cột của đầu tư và trọng tâm. Hành trình của người mua sắm vẫn là tâm điểm
khi năm dần trôi qua và các nhà bán lẻ hướng tới tương lai.

Read the following article, and answer questions from 1 to 5 by choosing the right
answers A, B, C or D.
‘It’s almost like shopping is an energy booster’: The unlikely connection between
burnout and your shopping habits
Source: www.cnbc.com
Aditi Shrikant
Bernadette Joy, host of the Crush Your Money Goals podcast, and her partner paid off
$300,000 in debt in four years by living a “minimalist lifestyle.” Now as a money coach, she
uses what’s she’s learned to help others reach their financial milestones.
Still, Joy says, she is not a stranger to overspending. And at the end of an “exhausting” day
she loves to shop. “It’s almost like shopping is an energy booster or a dopamine hit,” she says.
This trigger is not uncommon.
Chris Browning, founder of the podcast Popcorn Finance, says his most thoughtless purchases
happen when he is tired, too.
“When it’s late at night or I’ve had a long day and I’m just burnt out, I find that what would
normally be a purchase I agonize over, because I’m too nervous or conflicted about spending
the money, can become a quick impulsive decision,” he says.
You’ve probably experienced this, too.
This tendency to overspend when you’re tired can be explained by a psychological theory
named cognitive depletion.
What is cognitive depletion?
When you wake up every morning, you have a limited amount of cognitive energy, or brain
space, to help you make decisions, says Ross Steinman, a professor of psychology at Widener
University who studies consumer behavior.
You can increase your cognitive energy by getting a restful night’s sleep, scheduling in some
physical activity, or meditating.
However, throughout the day you make thousands of little and big decisions — what to wear
to work, what to have for lunch, how to phrase that email — so by the evening, your cognitive
energy might be totally spent.
If you browse a store or start shopping around online at the point in your day when your
cognitive energy is at its lowest, you’re less able to make a rational decision than you might
have been at the start.
“Let’s say somebody is buying mouthwash or toothpaste,” Steinman says. “What they might
do if they are operating at an optimal level in terms of sleep and decision-making is evaluate
prices or search for coupons, but when they are sleep-deprived or tired they are going to do
very little of that because they don’t have those cognitive resources to allocate.”
Instead of researching the differences between toothpaste brands, for example, they might just
choose Crest regardless of price or whether it’s worth the extra money simply because it’s
familiar.
If you’ve had an especially challenging day, you might also feel like you “deserve” an easy
decision, Steinman says. This usually comes into play with bigger or unnecessary purchases
rather than your everyday necessities.
“Basically what is happening is people are giving themselves permission to splurge,” he says.
To avoid overspending when tired try a ‘cooling down period’
There are ways to combat impulse spending when fatigued. Let’s say you get home from a
stressful day of work and see a great deal online. Before pressing “checkout” wait a bit,
Steinman says.
″Leave it in your cart 24 hours and think about if you really need to purchase that,” he says.
During that time, you’ll go through a “cooling down period,” he says, that allows you to
return to a more “consistent emotional state.” When you come back to it at a later date — and
ideally when you’re cognitive energy is high — you will make a more thoughtful decision.
If you often shop when you’re fatigued, you could also start allotting some money in your
budget specifically for these more impulsive purchases. This way you have a buffer should
you slip up and splurge once in a while.
You can also consider taking steps to manage your exhaustion, as Joy does. “I actually have
been working on sleeping at the same time every night and getting at least seven hours,′ she
says.
“I’m also eating earlier dinners and funny enough I don’t shop online at night anymore.”
1. What does Ms. Joy do?
A. a computer programmer B. a scientist
C. a host D. an analyst
2. Which of the following characteristics is often true about brain power in the evening?
A. plentiful B. unchanged C. increased D. exhausted
3. What is a strategy to avoid, or at least contain, impulsive shopping?
A. going to bed late B. waiting for some time
C. browsing other shopping websites D. shopping with another person
4. What can a budget dedicated to sudden shopping do?
A. covering the person if they cannot resist B. helping to pay for something more important
C. being lent to somebody else in need D. paying the credit card interest
5. Which of these is NOT an example of Ms. Joy’s measures to overcome impulsive
shopping?
A. sleeping at the same time nightly B. sleeping at least seven hours
C. having dinner earlier than before D. playing video games
References
Shrikant, A. (2022, July 25th). ‘It’s almost like shopping is an energy booster’: The unlikely
connection between burnout and your shopping habits. CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/25/cognitive-depletion-how-burnout-can-affect-your-
shopping-habits.html
READING 1
SCENT OF SUCCESS
Innovation and entrepreneurship, in the right mix, can bring spectacular results and
propel a business ahead of the pack. Across a diverse range of commercial successes, from the
Hills Hoist clothes line to the Cochlear ear implant, it is hard to generalize beyond saying the
creators tapped into something consumers could not wait to get their hands on. However,
most ideas never make it to the market. Some ideas that innovators are spruiking to potential
investors include new water-saving shower heads, a keyless locking system, ping-pong balls
that keep pollution out of rainwater tanks, making teeth grow from stem cells inserted in the
gum, and technology to stop LPG tanks from exploding. Grant Kearney, chief executive of
the Innovation Xchange, which connects businesses to innovation networks, says he hears of
great business ideas that he knows will never get on the market. “Ideas by themselves are
absolutely useless,” he says. “An idea only becomes innovation when it is connected to the
right resources and capabilities.”
One of Australia’s latest innovation successes stems from a lemon-scented bath-room
cleaner called Shower Power, the formula for which was concocted in a factory in Yatala,
Queensland. In 1995, Tom Quinn and John Heron bought a struggling cleaning products
business, OzKleen, for 250,000. It was selling 100 different kinds of cleaning products,
mainly in bulk. The business was in bad shape, the cleaning formulas were ineffective and
environmentally harsh, and there were few regular clients. Now Shower Power is claimed to
be the top-selling bathroom cleaning product in the country. In the past 12 months, almost
four million bottles of OzKleen’s Power products have been sold and the company forecasts
2004 sales of 10 million bottles. The company’s, sales in 2003 reached $11 million, with 700k
of business being exported. In particular, Shower Power is making big inroads in the British
market.
 OzKleen’s turnaround began when Quinn and Heron hired an industrial chemist to
revitalize the product line. Market research showed that people were looking for a better
cleaner for the bathroom, universally regarded as the hardest room in the home to clean. The
company also wanted to make the product formulas more environmentally friendly. One of
Tom Quinn’s sons, Peter, aged 24 at the time, began working with the chemist on the
formulas, looking at the potential for citrus-based cleaning products. He detested all the
chlorine-based cleaning products that dominated the market. “We didn’t want to use chlorine,
simple as that,” he says. “It offers bad working conditions and there’s no money in it.” Peter
looked at citrus ingredients, such as orange peel, to replace the petroleum by-products in
cleaners. He is credited with finding the Shower Power formula. “The head,” he says. The
company is the recipe is in a vault somewhere and in my sole owner of the intellectual
property.
To begin with, Shower Power was sold only in commercial quantities but Tom Quinn
decided to sell it in 750ml bottles after the constant “raves” from customers at their retail store
at Beenleigh, near Brisbane. Customers were traveling long distances to buy supplies. Others
began writing to OzKleen to say how good Shower Power was. “We did a dummy label and
went to see Woolworths.” Tom Quinn says. The Woolworths buyer took a bottle home and
was able to remove a stain from her basin that had been impossible to shift. From that point
on, she championed the product and OzKleen had its first supermarket order, for a palette of
Shower Power worth $3000. “We were over the moon,” says OzKleen’s financial controller,
Belinda McDonnell.
Shower Power was released in Australian supermarkets in 1997 and became the top-
selling product in its category within six months. It was all hands on deck cat the factory,
labeling and bottling Shower Power to keep up with demand. OzKleen ditched all other
products and rebuilt the business around Shower Power. This stage, recalls McDonnell, was
very tough. “It was hand-to-mouth, cashflow was very difficult,” she says. OzKleen had to
pay new-line fees to supermarket chains, which also squeezed margins.
OzKleen’s next big break came when the daughter of a Coles Myer executive used the
product while on holidays in Queensland and convinced her father that Shower Power should
be in Coles supermarkets. Despite the product success, Peter Quinn says the company was
wary of how long the sales would last and hesitated to spend money on upgrading the
manufacturing process. As a result, he remembers long periods of working around the clock
to keep up with orders. Small tanks were still being used so batches were small and bottles
were labeled and filled manually. The privately owned Ozkleen relied on cash flow to expand.
“The equipment could not keep up with demand, “Peter Quinn says. Eventually, a new
bottling machine was bought for $50,000 in the hope of streamlining production, but he says:
“We got ripped off.” Since then, he has been developing a new automated bottling machine
that can control the amount of foam produced in the liquid, so that bottles can be filled more
effectively- “I love coming up, with new ideas.” The machine is being patented.
Peter Quinn says Ozkleen’s approach to research and development is open slather. “If
I need it. I get it. It is about doing something simple that no one else is doing. Most of these
things are just sitting in front of people. It’s just seeing the opportunities.” With a tried and
tested product, Ozkleen is expanding overseas and developing more Power-brand household
products. Tom Quinn, who previously ran a real estate agency, says: “We are competing with
the same market all over the world, the (cleaning) products are sold everywhere.” Shower
Power, known as Bath Power in Britain, was launched four years ago with the help of an
export development grant from the Federal Government. “We wanted to do it straight away
because we realized we had the same opportunities worldwide.” Ozkleen is already number
three in the British market, and the next stop is France. The Power range includes cleaning
products for carpets, kitchens and pre-wash stain removal. The Quinn and Heron families are
still involved. Ozkleen has been approached with offers to buy the company, but Tom Quinn
says he is happy with things as they are. “We’re having too much fun.”
Question 1: Which of the following best describes the referent of "it" in the sentence, "It was
selling 100 different kinds of cleaning products" in the passage?
A. The factory in Yatala, Queensland
B. The bathroom cleaner Shower Power
C. OzKleen’s cleaning products business
D. The chemical formulas used in OzKleen's products

Question 2: Which of the following is true about OzKleen's Shower Power bathroom cleaner?
A. Shower Power was created using chlorine-based ingredients.
B. OzKleen was already a successful cleaning products business before Shower Power
was invented.
C. Shower Power became the top-selling bathroom cleaning product in Australia within
six months of its release.
D. Shower Power was invented by a chemist hired by OzKleen's owners.

Question 3: What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The importance of research and development in entrepreneurship
B. The difficulties of introducing a new product into the market
C. How to create an innovative and successful business idea
D. How a company turned its business around with a new cleaning product

Question 4: What was the motivation behind OzKleen's decision to create a citrus-based
bathroom cleaner?
A. Environmental friendliness
B. High profitability
C. Brand recognition
D. Personal preference of Peter Quinn

Question 5: How did OzKleen expand its business and increase sales?
A. By selling only commercial quantities
B. By investing in new manufacturing equipment
C. By targeting different cleaning products
D. By investing in more advertising and promotion

READING 2
IMPLEMENTING THE CYCLE OF SUCCESS:
A CASE STUDY
Within Australia, Australian Hotels Inc (AHI) operates nine hotels and employs over
2000 permanent full-time staff, 300 permanent part-time employees and 100 casual staff. One
of its latest ventures, the Sydney Airport hotel (SAH), opened in March 1995. The hotel is the
closest to Sydney Airport and is designed to provide the best available accommodation, food
and beverage, and meeting facilities in Sydney's southern suburbs. Similar to many
international hotel chains, however, AHI has experienced difficulties in Australia in providing
long-term profits for hotel owners, as a result of the country's high labor-cost structure. In
order to develop an economically viable hotel organization model, AHI decided to implement
some new policies and practices at SAH.
The first of the initiatives was an organizational structure with only three levels of
management - compared to the traditional seven. Partly as a result of this change, there are 25
percent fewer management positions, enabling a significant saving. This change also has other
implications. Communication, both up and down the organization, has greatly improved.
Decision-making has been forced down in many cases to front-line employees. As a result,
guest requests are usually met without reference to a supervisor, improving both customer and
employee satisfaction.
The hotel also recognized that it would need a different approach to selecting
employees who would fit in with its new policies. In its advertisements, the hotel stated a
preference for people with some 'service' experience in order to minimize traditional work
practices being introduced into the hotel. Over 7000 applicants filled in application forms for
the 120 jobs initially offered at SAH. The balance of the positions at the hotel (30
management and 40 shift leader positions) were predominantly filled by transfers from other
AHI properties.
A series of tests and interviews were conducted with potential employees, which
eventually left 280 applicants competing for the 120 advertised positions. After the final
interview, potential recruits were divided into three categories. Category A was for applicants
exhibiting strong leadership qualities, Category C was for applicants perceived to be
followers, and Category B was for applicants with both leader and follower qualities.
Department heads and shift leaders then composed prospective teams using a combination of
people from all three categories. Once suitable teams were formed, offers of employment
were made to team members.
Another major initiative by SAH was to adopt a totally multi-skilled workforce.
Although there may be some limitations with highly technical jobs such as cooking or
maintenance, wherever possible, employees at SAH are able to work in a wide variety of
positions. A multi-skilled workforce provides far greater management flexibility during peak
and quiet times to transfer employees to needed positions. For example, when office staff are
away on holidays during quiet periods of the year, employees in either food or beverage or
housekeeping departments can temporarily. The most crucial way, however, of improving the
labor cost structure at SAH was to find better, more productive ways of providing customer
service. SAH management concluded this would first require a process of 'benchmarking'.
The prime objective of the benchmarking process was to compare a range of service delivery
processes across a range of criteria using teams made up of employees from different
departments within the hotel which interacted with each other. This process resulted in
performance measures that greatly enhanced SAH's ability to improve productivity and
quality.
The front office team discovered through this project that a high proportion of AHI
Club member reservations were incomplete. As a result, the service provided to these guests
was below the standard promised to them as part of their membership agreement. Reducing
the number of incomplete reservations greatly improved guest perceptions of service.
In addition, a program modeled on an earlier project called 'Take Charge' was
implemented. Essentially, Take Charge provides an effective feedback loop from both
customers and employees. Customer comments, both positive and negative, are recorded by
staff. These are collated regularly to identify opportunities for improvement. Just as
importantly, employees are requested to note down their own suggestions for improvement.
(AHI has set an expectation that employees will submit at least three suggestions for every
one they receive from a customer.) Employee feedback is reviewed daily and suggestions are
implemented within 48 hours, if possible, or a valid reason is given for non-implementation.
If suggestions require analysis or data collection, the Take Charge team has 30 days in which
to address the issue and come up with recommendations.
Although quantitative evidence of AHI's initiatives at SAH is limited at present, the
anecdotal evidence clearly suggests that these practices are working. Indeed AHI is
progressively rolling out these initiatives in other hotels in Australia, whilst numerous
overseas visitors have come to see how the program works.

Question 1: What does "this change" in paragraph B refer to?

A. The opening of the Sydney Airport hotel
 B. The implementation of new policies and practices at SAH
C. The reduction of management positions at SAH
D. The improvement of communication within AHI

Question 2: What was the primary reason for AHI to implement new policies and practices at
SAH?
A. To provide the best available accommodation in Sydney
B. To improve communication and decision-making within the organization
C. To increase the number of management positions
D. To reduce labor costs

Question 3: How did the new organizational structure at SAH impact communication and
decision-making?
A. It resulted in decreased communication and more centralized decision-making.
B. It resulted in increased communication and more centralized decision-making.
C. It resulted in decreased communication and more decentralized decision-making.
D. It resulted in increased communication and more decentralized decision-making.

Question 4: What was the main objective of the benchmarking process implemented by SAH
management?
A. To reduce the number of incomplete reservations
B. To adopt a totally multi-skilled workforce
C. To compare a range of service delivery processes across a range of criteria
D. To implement an effective feedback loop from both customers and employees

Question 5: What is the "Take Charge" program implemented by SAH?

A. A program to reduce incomplete reservations for AHI Club members
B. A program to provide customer service training to front-line employees
C. A prograqm to encourage employees to submit suggestions for improvement
D. A program to implement a multi-skilled workforce to improve productivity