Dynamic-Business-English-1-4

1.Company Description•Ace CorporationThis is AceCorporation.It wasestablished in1920,more than75years ago.Ace manufacturessporting equipmentsuch astennis rackets,tennis ballsandfishing rods.Ace is a sportinggoods manufacturer.Its awell-managed company,and its products arewell made.Its headoffice is in New York.It alsohas anoffice inLos Angeles.Its mainoffice isin NewYork,and thereis anotheroffice inL.A..Ace hastwo factories.Its main factory isin Chicago.The otherfactory isin Miami.Its headoffice has300employees.The L.A.office employsaround

50.Its headoffice inNewYorkemploys300workers,and theLA.office has a staffofaround50employees.5,000people areemployed in the Chicago factory,and another1,150work in theMiami factory.5000people workin theChicagofactory.zAces main customers aregeneral consumers.Its products are alsosold toschools and other organizations.In recentyears the company has done well.Sales andprofits haveboth increased.Its maincompetitors areforeign companiesfrom Europeand Asia.Because of its highquality productshowever,Ace has been successful.The sellingprice foreach unit was about2,000dollars.Sales weregood in the majorinternational markets,however in Japan,sales werepoor.75%of theunits madein1998were soldin the United States.10%were soldin Canadaand another10%were soldin Europe.Only2%of themwere soldin Japan.The Americanscomplained,they said itwasunfair.The Americansaid thatthis wasbecause theJapanese marketswere closed.The Japanesesaiditwas theAmericans fault.The Japanesesaid that the OA-X waspoorly designedfor theJapanese user.They saidtheir marketwas open.Without morefacts,it isdifficult todecide thereal reason.Trade frictionisadifficult issuefor everyone involved.

4.Product Comparisons•The EpicThis is the Epic.The Epic is an American car.Ifs builtby Federal Motors,an American company.Federal Motors introduced thismodel5years agoand designedespecially forcommuters.Recently it has becomevery popular.Compared to last year,its salesare upby more than20%.Its sportydesign and excellent fuelefficiency havecontributed toits success.Customer satisfaction ratings haveput iton thetop10for the past few years.Itsadvanced designand lightweight area productof theworlds mostadvanced enginetechnology.Its the most fuel efficient carof any American madecar.The Epicgets44miles pergallon onthe highwayand32miles pergallon incity traffic.It costsaround$18,

000.At$18,000,it isa goodbuy.It iswell engineered,and isreported to be themost trouble free of anyAmericanmadecar.In terms of qualityand dependability,the Epicis consideredto bethe bestmadeAmerican carin itsprice range.The Epicgenerally goes about80,000miles before it needsmajor repairs.The Epicis builttolastaround80,000miles beforeproblems beginto appear.According toa recentstudy,fewer Epicowners hadproblems in the firstsix monthsofownership thanowners ofany other car.It isalso backedby an excellent warrantyprogram.Its warrantycovers allparts andlabor forfive yearsor50,000miles.As aresult,it hasproven tobe a good choicefor peoplewho spendlots oftimecommuting to work eachday.Five yearsago,Federal Motorswas losinga lotof money,and itsmarket sharewas fallingrapidly.Many ofits carshad tobe recalledfor safetyproblems,and threewere manycustomercomplaints aboutquality.When the Epic wasintroduced,sales wereslow atfirst becausethe publichad lostconfidencein Federal Motors.Gradually however,the carbegan toearn a good reputation,and salesimproved.As aresult,Federal Motorshas beenable tocompete moresuccessfully withforeigncompetitors.Their mainchallenge nowis toimprove theirdealer network.Their salespeople areoften criticizedfor poorsales practices..The SXThis is the Yamada SX.50%of theYamada soldin the US areimported fromJapan,the otherhalf aremade inthe US.The baseprice of the SX is around$14,

000.It comeswith a36month or36,000mile warranty.The SX is one of thebiggest Japanesecars in its class.It hasroom for5big adults.In termsof fueleconomy,the SXgets about38miles pergallon onthe highway,which isbetterthan averagefor itsclass.Auto industrystudies indicatethat the SX istroublefreefor around60000miles.zAn importantsales pointis that its maintenanceand servicecosts aregenerally lowerthan the industryaverage.This isbecause Yamadahas establisheda dealernetwork thatprovides the best servicesupportin theindustry.According toseveral surveys,the SXhas beennumber oneincustomersatisfaction for3years.For3years,it isone thetop customersatisfactionratingin severalsurveys.As aresult,the SX is nowthe bestselling carin theUS.•The AriaThis is theUnion Aria.It wasfirst introducedinto theUS in the late1980s byUnionMotors,a Europeancompany.Ifs awell builtcar,and it hasa good reputation.J町.Z----/5L*Its solid,well madecar with agoodreputation forpassenger comfortand safety.QThe Ariais paidabout$28,

000.It comesequipped with lots ofstandard features,such asAM/FM radioand airconditioning.The Ariahas morepassenger room than anyothercarinitsclass.It hasplenty ofroom fora growingfamily.It gets34miles pergallon onthe highwayand22miles pergallon in the city.It comeswith apowerful enginethat canpull aboat ora trailerwith ease.Its ratedhigh intermsofdependability.In generallygoesabout60,000miles beforeit needsany majorrepairs.Unfortunately,the costof partsand servicesare higherthan average.In termsof safety,the Ariahas the best recordofanycar.In crashtests,the Ariahas consistentlyoutperformed allother cars.In general,its size,power,andexcellentsafety recordmake itagoodfamily car.Though itsan excellentfamily car,its saleshave remainedflat for thepast fewyears.Some peoplesay itstoo expensive,others saythatitsdesign isuninteresting.If salesdont improve,major changeswill havetobemade.♦A ComparisonLetscompare these three automobiles.First,the FederalEpicis themostfuelefficient.In termsof fueleconomy,the Epicgets bettermileage than either theUnionAria ortheYamadaSX.The Ariadoesnt getas manymiles pergallon as the other two cars,but itsbigger anditsengine ismore powerful.As youcan seein thiscomparison,the Ariais themost expensive.As forprice,the Ariacosts more than theother two.It coststwice asmuch asthe SX.The least expensive of thesethreecars is the SX.Priced at$14,000,the SX is theleastexpensiveof thesethree models.Its abouthalf theprice of the Ariaand nearly25%less than the Epic.The Epiccosts$4,000more than theSX.As forsize,the Ariais thebiggest of the three.In termsof size,the Ariais biggerthantheothertwo.The Epic,which seats4adults,is thesmallest.The SXis largerthantheEpic,but ithas slightlyless passengerroomthanthe Aria.The SXis biggerthantheEpic,but it isn tquite asbig orpowerful astheAria.In termsof lowcost maintenanceand durability,theEpichas thebest record.It isvery economical.It hasa betterperformance recordthaneitherthe AriaortheSX.Compared toboth theother cars,it goes20,000more milesbeforeitneeds repairs.To summarize,each carhas itsadvantages.The Ariamay bethebestbuy fora growingfamily,though itsa bitexpensive.For thecommuter,theEpicis probably thebestchoice.Its fueleconomy andexcellent dependabilitygive itthe advantage.For buyerswho likea lowpurchase priceand whowant aslightly biggercar,theSX isprobablythebest value.It isntas smallastheEpic andit costsless工•United ndustricsThisis United Industries,anAmericancompany.UnitedIndustriesis anAmericancompany.Its mainproductsarerocket engines,satellites andaircraft parts.It manufacturesadvanced productssuch asrocket engines,satellites andaircraftparts.United wasestablished in1960by asmall group of engineers.A smallgroupofengineers startedthe companyin I

960.At thattime itmade rocketengines forother companies.In1965it startedto makeaircraft parts,including smalljet engines.Since thenithasopened upnew factoriesand officesin Europeand Asia.Uniteds headoffice andmain factoryisin Seattle whereit employsmorethan15,000workers.United is based inSeattle,Washington,where itsmainfactoryis located.It alsohas officesin Europe,Asia andother locationsaround theworld.There arethree factories.The mainone isinSeattle,another isin Montreal,and thethird isin London.United employsbetween20~25Q00people.United isa largecompany,employing almost25000people.z2,000employees workintheLondon factory.In Montreal,the company has5,000employees,including part-time workers.The twofactories outsidetheUSemploy atotal ofaround7,000workers.In recentyears the companyhasdone well.Sales andprofits haveboth mcreased.United sellsits productsto manydifferent countries.Some peopledont likeUnited becausesome ofits productsare used for militarypurposes.Unfortunately,these kingsof productsare usedtoo often.

2.Work Experience•Jean NielsenThisis Jean Nielsen.Jean graduatedfrom ColumbiaUniversity in

1981.She majoredin economics.In1983she gota jobwith Federal Motors.Two yearslater,in1983,Jean washired byFederal Motors.Jean worked in Personnelat Federal Motors for7years,until

1990.She leftFederal Motorsin1990and gota jobwith IBX.In1990she quither jobat Federal Motors and joined IBX.Jean quither jobat Federal Motors becauseshe wanteda moreinteresting job.She wasalso offereda highersalary.At IBXshe washired asa PersonnelManager inone oftheir factories.As PersonnelManager she has manyresponsibilities.Jean isin chargeof interviewingand hiringnew employees.She alsomanages the company semployee trainingprograms.In her job,she alsoneeds goodcommunication skills.Jean hasexcellent communicationskills,so shehasdonevery wellat IBX.Jean hasworked/been atIBX since

1990.Jean likesherjoband isplanning tostay atIBX fora longtime.At beginning of1990,Jean Nielsenwas anassistant manager.When Jean left the company at the end of1990,she wasreplaced by SteveGomez.-空-Steves oldposition was filled byBill Lee.Bill Leetransferred intoPersonnel fromSales.•Tom JonesThisis Tom Jones.Tom isa graduateof StanfordUniversity.He graduatedin1988withadegree inmathematics.Tom gota jobwith Federal Motors right after graduation.Tom washired byFederal Motorsrightaftergraduating fromStanford.Tom hasworked inthe RDDepartment sincehe joinedthecompanyin

1988.Since hejoined companyin1988Tom hasworkedinResearch andDevelopment.zTom isresponsible fordesigning newautomobile components.For thepast fewyears,Tom hasbeen designingauto components.Tom enjoyshis workand oftenworks lateattheoffice.He ishoping tobe promotedinthenext yearor two.Tom hasbeen withFederalMotorsfor morethan10years.He hasworked veryhard andhehas anexcellentwork record.zTom isresponsible tohis boss,Jim Nielsen.Jim NielsenhasbeenToms bosssince

1990.Jim startedworking at FederalMotors3years beforeTom joinedthecompany.In thefuture,TomJoneswill probablybe promoted.•Federal MotorsThere were manyimportant changesat FederalMotorsin

1990.In Personnel,JeanNielsenwas anassistant manageratthebeginning ofthe year.At theend ofthe year,JeanleftFederalMotorsandjoinedIBX.Jeans positionwasfilledbySteveGomez,who joinedthecompanyin

1987.In theProduction Division,1990was notagoodyear.In the factory,the workforce wascut bymorethan10%.At thebeginningofthe year,there were2,000workers inthe factory.At theendofthe year,there were1,750workers inthefactory.There werealso someimportant changesinthe Sales Department.have Jackson,theSalesManager,was firedbecause ofa drinkingproblem.He missedmeetings andoften cametoworklate.He wasreplaced bySonia Scott,who joinedthecompanyfrom outside.Ed Smithwas transferredto Salesfrom Engineeringto assistMs.Scott.Therewerealso changesintheRD department.Jim Nielsenwas promotedto GeneralManager.

3.Manufacturing andTradeYR1RobotThis isthe YR

1.The YR1is an industrial robot.Thisisthe YR1,anindustrialrobot.Industrial robots have many uses.This kindof robot is usuallyused forhigh precision assembly ormetal work.The YR1is made by a Japanese company,Yamashita Ltd.Yamashita is located inTokyo,Japan.The firstYR1was madein Japanin

1997.The YR1was developedby YamashitaLtd,aJapanesecompany.YR1is usedonassemblylines,such asthis oneatFederalMotors.FederalMotorsmakes cars.FederalMotorsmanufactures cars.The YR1is used for welding cars onthe assemblyline.At FederalMotors,the YR1robotisusedforweldingcars.Many YR1robots havebeen soldto theautomobile industry.FederalMotorsis anautomobile company,it makesmany kindsof motorvehicles,suchas cars,trucks andvans.Thisisone ofthe assemblylines atFederalMotors,anautomobile companylocated intheUnitedStates.In1997,15units werebought byFederalMotors.Those unitsare nowbeing usedto dothe workthat60workers usedto do.The robotsworkfaster thanhuman workersand theymake fewermistakes.The automobileindustryhas boughtmany industrialrobots,such asthe YR

1.In1997,5,000YR1were madeby Yamashita.Of those5,000robots,50%were soldin Japan.25%were soldintheUS.10%were soldin Europe.50%ofthe5,000robots thatwere madein1997were soldinJapan.25%wereexported totheUS.10%were soldin Europe.The restwere exportedto othermarketsaround theworld.In1997,50%oftheVRls manufacturedby Yamashitawere exportedto othercountries.The restwere soldinthehighly competitivedomestic market.In thepastfewyears,worldwide salesoftheYR1andotherrobotshaverapidlyincreased.If freetrade continues,Yamashitas futurelooks good.•OA-X ComputerThisisthe OA-X.The OA-Xisa computer.Thisisthe OA-X,itisa computerdesigned toincrease efficiency.It comeswithlotsof usefulsoftware.It hasmanyuses.It iseasy touse andithasa varietyof uses.Some ofits usesinclude word processing,communications andspreadsheets.ThisisAce Ltd,a sportinggoods company,located inthe USA.Ace isoneofthe companieswhich boughtOA-X computersin

1998.-区-At Ace,the OA-Xisusedforwordprocessing,communications andspreadsheets.Ace isusing theOA-X tocut costsand improveoffice efficiency.Advanced Technologiesisthemaker oftheOA-X computer.The OA-Xismanufactured andsold byAdvanced TechnologiesIncorporated.The OA-XismadebyAdvanced Technologies.The OA-X computeris anAmerican product.The OA-X computeris anAmerican product,though manyofitscomponent partsareimported.Advanced Technologiesislocatedin California,near SanFrancisco.Advanced Technologiesisbasedin California,just southof SanFrancisco.The companyhas anexcellent reputation.The companyhasanoutstanding reputationfor quality.In recentyears however,its saleshave sufferedbecause ofstrong competitionfromJapan.It hasexcellent productsand competitiveprices.It hasa highlytrained workforce andit usesthe latesttechnology inthemanufacturing process.It alsoprovides outstandingcustomer support.As aresult,itsproductsare highlyrated.In1998,Advanced Technologiessold10,000units.Worldwide salesoftheOA-X totaled10,000units in

1998.。