2007年11月商务英语BEC考试高级口试真题

　　Samples(部分口语试题参考答案)

　　1、Customer Relations: how to maintain customer interest in a company’s products

　　As is know to all, it is very important for a company to maintain customer interest in their products. I think a company should try every possible way to retain its current customers.

　　First, it should always make sure that it provides its customers with quality goods and after-sales service. Second, it should lay enough emphasis on the feedback from its current customers and take prompt action to take care of their needs and demands. Third, if possible it may provide some incentives to its old customers. For example, it can grant a certain discount to them if their purchases reach a certain amount. Apart from all these, a company should design strategies to attract new customers and create transactions with them, to expand their customer base, so to speak. These strategies include product diversification and upgrading.

　　All in all, a company should try its utmost to keep its current customers satisfied with its products and services, and at the same time it should stay ahead of the market through product and pricing strategies.

　　2、How to fill a key vacancy

　　In order to fill a key vacancy, a company will usually follow the same standard procedure.

　　It will begin by producing an accurate job description of what it would like the successful candidate to do. From this, it can then produce a profile of this ideal candidate, which is a list of skills, experience, attributes and so on.

　　Having produced this profile, the company must then decide on the best recruitment method to capture a candidate with this profile. This might be an internal advertisement or an external advertisement in a newspaper, on the Internet say, even an agency or perhaps a headhunter.

　　Having decided on the best recruitment method, the advertisements are then placed or the headhunter contacted and a list of candidates will be then drawn up to be put through the company’s recruitment processes. This might be interviews, psychometric tests or even hand-writing analysis. This will then produce the ideal candidate for the company.

　　The company will then have to negotiate terms with this candidate and, hopefully, this will result in terms which are both affordable for the company and attractive enough to get the candidate they want.

　　Background Information

　　3、Career Planning: how to assess the career opportunities provided by different types of companies

　　Career Planning

　　Even after a job is offered and accepted, career decisions must be made. On-the-job experience may affect the desired path. Aspiring to achieve a position above the present position is natural. The planned career path to that position may involve either a series of promotions within the firm or switching to a different firm. While planning a career path is a useful motivator, the plans should be achievable. If everyone planned to be president of a company, most plans would not be achieved. This can cause frustration. A preferable career path would include short-term goals, since some ultimate goals may take twenty years or longer. The use of short-term goals can reinforce confidence as goals are achieved.

　　Career Development: the importance of acquiring a range of skills throughout your career

　　It is important a person to have a range of skills in the course of his career development. When he has a range of skills, he is obviously more competitive than those who don’t and therefore has more chances of promotion. And it will be easier for him to find a job outside his company if he is not satisfied with his present job. In addition, a person with a range of skills is more likely to work his way up to the top of the corporate ladder.

　　4、Human Resources: how to provide effective support for new members of staff

　　Training: The importance of a continuous programme of staff training within a company

　　Staff Management: how to achieve and maintain high motivation among a workforce

　　Motivating Employees: Employees tend to be more satisfied with their jobs if they are provided (1) compensation that is aligned with their performance, (2) job security, (3) a flexible work schedule, and (4) employee involvement programs. Firms should offer job security, compensation that is tied to employee performance, more flexible work schedules, and more employee involvement programs. To the extent that job satisfaction can motivate employees to improve their performance, firms may be able to a higher production level by providing greater job satisfaction.

　　5、Marketing Research

　　Managers cannot always wait for information to arrive in bits and pieces from the marketing intelligence system. They often require formal studies of specific situations. For example, Toshiba wants to know how many and what kinds of people or companies will buy its new superfast laptop computer. Or Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, needs to know what percentage of its target market has heard of Barat, how they heard, what they know, and how they feel about Barat. In such situations, the marketing intelligence system will not provide the detailed information needed. Managers will need marketing research.

　　We define marketing research as the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization. Every marketer needs research. Marketing researchers engage in a wide variety of activities, ranging from market potential and market share studies, to assessments of customer satisfaction and purchase behavior, to studies of pricing, distribution, and promotion activities.

　　A company can conduct marketing research in its own research department or have some or all of it done outside. Although most large companies have their own marketing research departments, they often use outside firms to do special research tasks or studies. A company with no research department has to buy the services of research firms.

　　6、Marketing: the importance of packaging products appropriately

　　In recent times, numerous factors have made packaging an important marketing tool. Increased competition and clutter on retail store shelves means that packages now must perform many sales tasks-from attracting attention, to describing the product, to making the sale. Companies are realizing the power of good packaging to create instant consumer recognition of the company or brand. For example, in an average supermarket, which stocks 15,000 to 17,000 items, the typical shopper passes by some 300 items per minute, and 53 percent of all purchases are made on impulse. In this highly competitive environment, the package may be the seller’s last chance to influence buyers. It becomes a "five-second commercial." The Campbell Soup Company estimates that the average shopper sees its familiar red and white can 76 times a year, creating the equivalent of $26 million worth of advertising.

　　7、Market Research: the importance of doing market research before launching a new product

　　Sales: How to sell a product effectively in international markets

　　Product Promotion: the importance of selecting appropriate members of staff to attend exhibitions

　　Communication: the importance in business of maintaining contact with clients

　　Public Relations: the importance of adequate supervision and training of staff who deal with the public

　　8、Management: How to run a meeting successfully

　　Transport Management: the importance to a business of an efficient public transport system

　　Any distribution of products from producers to wholesalers or from wholesalers to retailers requires transportation. The cost of transporting some products can exceed the cost of producing them. An efficient form of transportation can result in higher costs and lower profits for the firm. For each form of transportation, firms should estimate timing, cost, and availability. This assessment allows the firm to choose an optimal method of transportation. The most common forms of transportation used to distribute products are truck, rail, air, water, pipeline.

　　Transport Management: the importance of using environmentally friendly means of transport whenever possible

　　9、Health & Safety

　　Employee Safety: Firms ensure that the workplace is safe for employees by closely monitoring the production process. Some obvious safety precautions are to check machinery and equipment for proper working conditions, require safety glasses or any other equipment that one can prevent injury, and emphasize any special safety precautions in training seminars.

　　Firms that create a safe working environment prevent injuries and improve the morale of their employees. Many firms, such as Allied Signal, now identify workplace safety as one of their main goals. Levi Strauss and Company imposes safety guidelines not only its U.S. facilities but also on Asian factories where some of its clothes are made. Starbucks Coffee Company has developed a code of conduct in an attempt to improve the quality of life in coffee-producing countries.

　　10、Life Skills: the importance of being able to cope with stress in a job

　　Technology: the importance of training staff in how to use new technology when introducing it into the workplace.