Учебное пособие по деловому английскому языку Самара Издательство



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түріУчебное пособие
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Texts for retelling and discussion 
 
1.  Read the text, make sure you understand everything and retell it: 
When we think of business, we usually think of tangible products that we can see 
and touch: computers on the desk or cars in the showroom. We may also think of primary 
products like coal or agricultural goods. But manufacturing forms a diminishing part of 
most advanced economies: only 17 per cent of the US economy, for example. Manufac-
turing is increasingly lean, with 'Japanese' techniques such as just-In-time(JIT) ordering 
of components and total quality management (TQM) becoming widespread. 
There is an unresolved argument about whether economies need manufacturing at 
all to survive and flourish. In many people's minds, nevertheless, there is great regret 
when a factory closes in a 'traditional' industry: there is something more 'real' about work 
in a car plant than in a call centre. (The call centre may be selling intangible products 
such as mortgages: more and more services are described in product terms.) But the car 
plant may provide more work indirectly, for example at the component manufacturers 
that supply it. 
We define ourselves partly by the products we own and use, wherever they are 
made. Economies in different parts of the world are at different stages of development in 
the way products are bought and perceived. In newly industrialised countries, such as 
some of those in Asia, more and more people are now able to afford consumer durables 
like washing machines for the first time, and companies that sell these types of goods can 
make large amounts of money. In the West, the market for televisions or washing ma-
chines is basically one of replacement. In a situation like this, design, brand and image 
become more important. Previously prestigious products, like certain makes of luxury 
car, become increasingly affordable, and manufacturers have to be careful to stay ahead 
of the game to avoid their brands being perceived as 'ordinary'. 
The cars, televisions and washing machines of the 1950s may have had more style
but modern products are technically far better now than they were then. Consumers may 
complain about designed-in obsolescence and unnecessary sophistication of products 
with too many features that are never used, and manufacturers may have started to take 
this into account, simplifying the ways they are used. Consumers are also able to obtain 
and compare information about different products more and more easily. Consumerism is 
a force that manufacturers increasingly have to reckon with. 


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