Task Sheet for Candidate A Task Sheet 1A:Staff promotion:theimportance of promoting employ

y received last year in a survey.

?Using the information in the chart, write a report of office workers' attitudes towards in-service training.

?Write 120—140 words on your Answer Sheet.

?Read the text below about idleness．

?For each question(31-40)，write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet．

Enjoy Idleness

In his 1935 essay，" In Praise of Idleness，" British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote，" I think there is far (31) much work done in the world and immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous．" Russell advocated shortening the work day to four hours．And people all over the world ignored his advice．Although the sweatshops and fourteen-hour work days are gone in most industrialized countries today， studies reveal that people in most of these countries believe they are working (32) and harder than ever．

In the United States，the hours available for leisure each week dropped from 24.3 in 1975 to 19.2 in 1995．An associate partner in a U．S．architectural firm reported (33) working 70 to 80 hours a week is the norm in her field．In a recent survey of 150 Canadian executives，75 percent stated they were working so hard that their personal relationships were suffering．Compaq Canada's director of channel sales and development says he arrives at his office by 6:30am，leaves (34) ．7:30pm．and always works at home in the evenings．According to an International Research Association study，72 percent of Brazilians consider work more important than leisure，as (35) ．67 percent of Philippine workers and 66 percent of workers in Venezuela．

Many people blame technology (36) our longer working hours．Instead of giving us more leisure time as predicted，it seems to tie us more securely to our offices．In the davs before fax，email，and videoconferencing，the office closed．Today we take the office (37) us．A British manager，for example，can stay at work until midnight for a conference with the California branch．Corporate downsizing is another contributor， because remaining workers have to do the iobs of those who have been laid off．Basically， however，people just seem to feel they need to work harder．According to Carole Pemberton，a research consultant with a British management organization；people worked hard in the 1960s to get ahead；now they feel they must work (38) just to stay where they are．

In the short run。workers may be rewarded for 10ng hours，but experts point out that ultimately people suffer (39) exhaustion，stress，and depression．To improve the quality of their lives，many U．S．workers are changing jobs and taking salary cuts．Internationally，organizations are helping workers to slow down．When conducting performance reviews，the Bank of Montreal no longer rewards managers for working interminable hours．In Japan，Sony encourages (40) to take every day of holiday entitlement．In Great Britain，a group launched the" Long Hours On Time!Get a Life．" It remains to be seen if workers around，the world will take this advice．

(31)

into different categories according to the types of items and clients．

?Using the information from the chart，write a report of the outstanding features of the sales figures．

?Write 120-140 words．

?Read the text below about the phases of innovation in market.

?In most of the lines 41--52 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.

?If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.

?If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.

New Innovation Needs Three Phases

0 Almost every new innovation goes through three phases. When initially introduced

00 into the market, the process of adoption is slow. The early models are that expensive

41 and hard to use, and perhaps even unsafe. The economic impact is relatively very

42 small. The second phase is the explosive one, because where the innovation is rapidly

43 adopted by a large number of many people. It gets cheaper and easier to use and

44 becomes something familiar with. And then in the third stage, diffusion of the

45 Innovation slows down again, as if it permeates out across the economy. During the

46 explosive phase, the whole new industries spring up to produce the new product or

47 innovation, and up to service it. For example, during the 1920s, there is dramatic

48 acceleration in auto production, from 1.9 million in 1920 to 4.5 million in 1929. This

49 boom was accompanied by all sorts of other essential activities necessary for an the

50 auto-based nation: Roads had to be built for the cars to run on; refineries and oil

51 wells, to provide the gasoline; and garages, to repair them. Historically speaking, the

52 same pattern is repeated again and again and with innovations. The construction of the electrical system required an enormous early investment in generation and distribution capacity.

(41)

?Read this text taken from an article about logistics and corporate profit performance.

?Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps.

?For each gap 9—14, mark one letter (A—H) on your Answer Sheet.

?Do not use any letter more than once.

In an uncertain economic environment, top management will be interested in asset management and flow management. H . They can represent over 50 percent of manufactures’ total asset, and more than 80 percent of wholesalers and retailers’ total assets.

When top management mandates a reduction in accounts receivable and/or inventories, its objective is to improve cash flow and reduce the company's investment in assets. (9) . But reduction in the terms of sale, or even enforcement of the stated terms of sale, in effect changes tile price component of the firm's marketing mix. (10) .

The arbitrary reduction of accounts receivable and/or inventories in the absence of technological change or changes in the logistics system can have a devastating impact on corporate profit performance. (11) . First, the change alters the manufacturer's price and therefore the competitive position of its products, which may lead to decreased sales. Second, it further complicates the cash flow problems of the manufacturer's customers. Forcing faster payment of invoices causes channel members to improve their cash flow by reducing their inventories of the manufacturer's products. (12) . This situation may also result in stock-out of the manufacturer's products as the wholesale or retail level of the channel, further reducing sales volume.

Similarly, a manufacturer's policy of arbitrarily reducing inventory level to increase inventory sums, in the absence of a system change, may escalate transportation costs and/or production setup costs as the logistics system scrambles to achieve the specified customer service levels with lower inventories (assuming the company was efficiently and effectively distributing products prior to the policy change). (13) In this case, customer service levels would be eroded, and a decrease in market share might result. (14) .

A However, if management concentrates on system changes that improve logistics efficiency and/or effectiveness, it may be able to satisfy all of the firm's objectives.

B Usually, management assumes that revenues and other costs will remain the same.

C They do so by placing smaller, more frequent orders, which may increase total logistics cost for both the manufacturer and its customers.

D In either set of circumstances, the increased cost of transportation and/or production or the lost sales contribution could far exceed the savings in inventory carrying cost.

E If a manufacturer changes its terms of sale, for example, the effect on wholesalers and retailers will be twofold.

F In addition, simply reducing the level of inventory can significantly increase the cost of logistics if current inventories have been set at a level that allows the firm to achieve least total cost logistics for a desired level of customer service. G Alternatively, pressure to reduce expenses may preclude the use of premium transportation or increased production setups to achieve the desired customer service levels with smaller inventory.

H The two most common strategies used to improve cash flow and return on assets are= (1)reducing accounts receivable and(2)reducing the investment in inventory, as inventories and accounts receivable are a major portion of corporate assets.

(9)

(The candidate chooses one topic and speaks about it for one minute.)

A. Market Research: the importance of doing market research before launching new product

B. Finance: the importance of foreign investment for a company

C. Training: how to monitor internal staff training schemes effectively

e markets.

I Get Into Export". The book explains steps to successful exporting.

&8226;Which clip does each sentence refer to?

&8226;For each sentence, mark one letter A, B, C, D or E.

&8226;You will need to use some of these letters more than once.

A.

Commitment: Developing export markets can be costly in terms of time, money have the commitment required to make a success of export? Entering new markets and developing them usually takes considerable time and effort. You must take a long-term view. Consider how many resources and how long it takes to break into a new regional market in Australia. The time and cost can be multiplied several times when you are looking at an overseas market.

B.

Finance: Breaking into any new markets requites considerable funds (airfares, accommodation, advertising, sales promotion, new brochures, training of overseas sales agent, etc.). Does your company have the financial strength to commit say $ 30,000 or more for the year or two it may take to develop a new overseas market?

Discusses your plans with the international Department of your bank to ensure that all the financial aspects are covered and viable. Gain an understanding of international trade finance. Discuss costing-for-export with your accountant, and transport/packaging requirements with a customs agent or forwarding agent.

C.

Become familiar with common terms used in international trade. The Australian Trade Commission (AUSTRADE) and the major trading banks have reference booklets. The Australian Institute of Expert provides courses.

D.

Select one or two likely markets and undertake desk research to identify their characteristics. Most first-time exporters start with New Zeatand. Many are also interested in the USA, but that is an enormous and complex market.

In making a detailed market study the following should be considered:

?whether the country selected already imports the product (import statistics will show how much and from where)

?what import duties the product would attract

?other barriers to imports, such as import licensing

?frequency and cost of shipping or airfreight between Australia and the market

?regulations, such as quarantine and labeling standards, consumer protection rules, and product standards

?whether cultural differences need to be taken into account. 'Read economic and social literature on the target market to understand its fundamental characteristics.

E.

The desk research should have indicated the market with the most potential and you should now be in a good position to visit the target market. The main purpose of the visit will be to study its special characteristics, the opportunities/competition at first hand, seek a suitable agent or distributor, and jointly draw up an appropriate marketing plan to introduce and expand the sale of your product. These are all very important considerations, and more than one visit will probably be necessary. Choosing the right agent, for most Companies, is probably the single most important step. Do not rush this step.

A long-term approach has to be taken in projecting how to crack the world market.