剑桥BEC高级真题第三辑TEST3.docx

剑桥BEC高级真题第三辑TEST3.docx

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剑桥BEC高级真题第三辑TEST3

READING1hour

PARTONEQuestions1-8

BEC第三辑高级Test3

Lookatthestatementsbelowandatthefiveextractsontheoppositepagefromtheannualreportsoffivemobilephonecompanies.

Whichcompany（A,B,C,DorE）doeseachstatement（1-8）referto?

Foreachstatement（1-8）,markoneletter（A,B,C,DorE）onyourAnswerSheet.

Youwillneedtousesomeoftheselettersmorethanonce.

Thereisanexampleatthebeginning,（0）.

Example:

0Thiscompanyhasnodirectcompetition.

ABCDE

1Thiscompanyisstillmakingafinancialloss.

2Thiscompanyishavingpartofitsbusinesshandledbyanoutsideagency.

3Thiscompanyhasgrownwithoutundueexpense.

4Thiscompanyistryingtofindoutwhatthemarketresponsewillbetoanewproduct.

5Thiscompanycontinuestolosecustomers.

6Thiscompanyaimstotargetaspecificgroupofconsumers.

7Thiscompanyisfindingitlessexpensivethanbeforetoattractnewcustomers.

8Thiscompanyhasrationaliseditsoutlets.

A

Ourmanagementteamisdedicatedtodeliveringoperationalexcellenceandimprovedprofitability.Inthecomingyear,wewillfocusourmarketingonprofessionalyoungadults,whorepresentthehighvaluesegmentofthemarketandwho—accordingtoindependentresearch

—aremostlikelytoadoptourmoreadvancedmobiledataproducts.Customerretentioniscentraltoourstrategy,andwehavebeensuccessfulinreversingthecustomerlossofrecentyearsbyloyaltyandupgradeschemes.Arestructuringprogramme,resultingfromchanging

marketingconditions,hasseenourworkforcescaleddownto6,100people.

B

Astheonlynetworkoperatorinthecountry,ourmarketingisaimedatexpandingthesizeofthemarket.Inthebusinesssector,wehavetargetedsmallandmedium-sizedbusinessesbyofferingstandardisedservices,andlargecustomersbyofferingtailoredtelecommunicationssolutions.Wehavebeenattheforefrontofintroducingnewtelecommunicationstechnologyandservicesandhaverecentlydistributed150ofourmostadvancedhandsetstocustomerstoassessthelikelydemandforadvanceddataservices.Lastyear,theindustryrecognisedourachievementwhenwewonanationalawardfortechnologicalprogress.

C

Anewmanagementteamhasdrivenourimprovedperformancehere.Itiscommittedtobringingthebusinessintoprofitabilitywithinthreeyearsafterreachingbreak-evenpointinthenextfinancialyear.Wearefocusedondeliveringrisinglevelsofcustomerserviceandanimprovementinthequalityandutilisationofournetwork.Goodprogresshasbeenmadeonallthesefronts.Thecostofacquiringnewsubscribershasbeenreducedandnewtariffshavebeenintroducedtoencouragegreateruseofthephoneinthelateevening.

D

Wehavecontinuedtoexpandournetworkinacost-efficientmannerandhaveconsolidatedourretailsectionbycombiningourfourwholly—ownedretailbusinessesintoasingleoperatingunit.Weexpectthistoenhanceouroperationaleffectivenessandtheconsistencyofourservice.Ourambitionistogivecustomersthebestretailexperiencepossible.Wewere,therefore,delightedearlierthisyearwhenwewonamajorEuropeanawardforcustomerservice.Thiswasparticularlypleasingtousaswehavealwaysgivenhighprioritytocustomersatisfactionandoperationalexcellence.

E

Here,wearefocusedoncontinuouslyrealisingcostefficienciesaswellasimprovingthelevelofcustomersatisfactionandretention.Wehavealreadytakeneffectivemeasurestoreducecustomerlossandtostrengthenourdeliveryofcustomerservice.Thequalityofournetworkhasimprovedsignificantlyoverthepastyearandanincreaseintheutilisationofournetworkisnowapriority.Theoperationofourcustomerservicecentrehasbeenoutsourcedtoacallcentrespecialistandthishasledtoasubstantialincreaseinthelevelof

service.

PARTTW0

Questions9-14

Readthistexttakenfromanarticleabouttheimportancetocompaniesofnotlosingtheiremployees'knowledge.

Choosethebestsentencefromtheoppositepagetofilleachofthegaps.

Foreachgap（9-14）,markoneletter（A-H）onyourAnswerSheet.

Donotuseanylettermorethanonce.

Thereisanexampleatthebeginning,（0）.

Protectrhgthecorporatememory

Manycompaniesrisklosingexpertisethroughjobcuts.Butbyanalysinghowstaffinteract,theymaybeabletominimisethedamage.

Manystaffhaveknowledgewhichisessentialtotheircompany.Sowhatcanbusinessesdotoavoidlosingthatexpertisewhenstaffleave,andtodis-suadeemployeesfromkeepingtheirknowledgetothemselvesinthefaceofpossiblejobcuts?

First,theyneedtorecognisetheproblem.Adownturnintheeconomyexposesmanycompanies’lackofcommitmenttounderstandingandusingtheirpeople’sknowledge.（0）....H.....Unless,thatis,they’vemadeitaroutineorsufferedbecauseoflosingknowledgeinthepast.

Next,anyattempttostopknowledgewalkingoutofthedoormustbehandledsensitively.（9）........Employeeswouldbeextremelycynicalandseeitasanattempttoextracttheiruniqueknowledge,whichtheybelievegivesthemjobsecurity.

Strongincentivesareneededtocoaxpeopleintodivulgingtheirexpertisewhenbeingdismissed.（10）........Atfirstsight,thismightseemexcessive,butthedisadvantagesshouldbeweighedagainstthebenetits.

Ofcourse,notallknowledgecanbecapturedbytheorganisationandtumedintoaprocess.（11）........To{indoutwhothese‘knowledgehotspots’are,companiesneedtoquestiontheirstaffandanalysetheirsocialnetworks.Companiesshouldn’taskemployeeswhattheyknow,butwhotheywouldaskiftheywantedtoknowaboutdifferentsubjects.（12）........And,moreimportantly,theprocessrevealstheotherswhoalwaysknowsomebodywhoknows.

Thelattercanbehighonthelistforredundancybecausemanagersareunsurewhattheydo,orbecausetheyappeartobeweakperformers.（13）........Peoplelikethisareoftennotambitiousbuttheycanholdacompanytogether.Themostvaluableknowledgeisoftennotpossessedbythepeoplewhoseemtobestarperformers.

Ifthoseatthecentreofknowledgenetworkscometobeseenasthemostvaluablepeople,thosewhokeeptheirknowledgetothemselveswilllookvulnerablewhendownsizingisdeemednecessary.（14）........Insuchcompanies,theincentivetoshareknowledgeshouldbeevengreaterwhenjobsareunderthreat.

Forsomecompanies,itmaybetoolatetosalvageimportantknowledge.Buildingaculturewhereknowledgeisunderstood,valuedandsharedcantakealongtime.Now

maybethetimetoprepareforthenextdownturn.

Example:

ABCDEFGH

AOrganisationsthatrewardpeopleforsharingknowledgewillknowwhofallsintoeachofthesetwoopposingcategories.

BThisapproachenablesthemtoidentifythosewithalimitednumberofnetworkrelationships.

CLaunchingaknowledge-sharinginitiativeatatimewhenpeopleareexpectingredundancieswouldnotbeagoodidea.

DThisprovidesevidenceoftheriskthatsuchapolicywillmeetresistance.

EBecauseofthedifficultyofachievingthis,itisfarbetternottolosethevaluablesourcesofknowledgeatall.

FButa'knowledgemapping'exercisemightrevealthattheyplayacriticalroleasmentorstotherestoftheteam.

GThepricemaybeanincreaseintheir

redundancypackage,provisionofcareercounselling,oranagreementtohirethembackasconsultants.

HWhencompaniesfeelthey’reinacrisis,itisoneofthethingsthatgoesbythe

board.

PARTTHREEQuestions15-20

Readthefollowingarticleabout'Go-Fast',acost-savingprogrammeintroducedbythecarmanufacturerGeneralMotors,andthequestionsontheoppositepage.

Foreachquestion（15-20）,markoneletter（A,B,CorD）onyourAnswerSheet.

Somewheretoday,agroupofstafffromGeneralMotorswillmeetaspartofthe‘Go-Fast’programme,andhammeroutanewinitiativetocutcostsandbureaucracy.Theymayfocusonlyonwiper-blades,orstaffappraisal,orshowroomdesign.Butbythisaftemoon,thereshouldbeanoutlinesavingsplan,whichwill,whenimplemented,bemeasuredcarefullyforsignsofsuccess.TheaimistotransformGMfromalumberingleviathanintothecorporateequivalentofasportscar.Theintentionisnotjusttobebig—GMisoneofthebiggestcarmanufacturersintheworld—buttobefast,particularlyinitsresponsivenesstothemarket.Thesuccessoftheprogrammeisreflectedinthelargenumberofsuggestionsbeingintroduced—farmorethanintheolddays,wheneverychangehadtocomefromsenior,managersfocusingonthe‘bigpicture’.

TheprogressmadehastransformedinvestorperceptionsofGM.BeforetheGo-Fastprogramrnewasintroduced,theconventionalwisdomwasthatGM’smarketsharewasinpermanentlfreefallanditsorganisationincapableofdoinganythingaboutit.Now,thedeclinehasbeenturnedaround,andtheseniormanagers’changeofapproachhasledtothecompanybeingenergisedwithawinningspiritthathasunlockedlong-dormantcapabilities.Thatittookafirmofconsultantstohelpdevisetheprogrammeisperhapsasadreflectionofthedangerofcorporatethinkingbecominginflexible.

Theshareholders’supportofGM’sstrategytobecomemoreoutward-lookingandinnovativeissomethingofaluxury,thoughinthelongrunsuccesswouldconvinceeventhemostscepticalshareholders.ThestrategyincludesbearingdownoncostsandextractingmaximumsynergiesfromGM’snumerousalliancepartners,suchasitstoolingsuppliers,andexchangingideasandmanagementtoolswithothercorporationsofwidelydifferingsizes,sectorsandnationalities.