Task 1. Read and translate the text.

Mr. Eldridge had still not made up his mind whom to support: Smallcrown or Modern Phones. Modern Phones had already sent all the relevant information on their project but nothing definite had been heard from Smallcrown. So Eldridge decided to phone Williams with a view of finding out what Smallcrown’ plans were. Eldridge told Williams that he could extend Smallcrown’s deadline only by two weeks and that he wanted to get the decision of the Board of Directors by that time.

After Williams had finished talking to Mr. Eldridge, he rang up Robert Davis and told him to be ready with the report by the date of the coming Board meeting where it would be put on the agenda.

While working on the report Davis asked to give him the exact production figures for the BSM-3 project. After he had got them he was shocked because Smallcrown’s specialists maintained that the production capacity of their firm would have to be increased by 25% if they were to go ahead with this project.

Davis’s next step was to call up Dr. Adams but she was unable to supply any extra information at least none could seriously influence the final decision of the Board of Directors. Therefore when Davis submitted his report to Willams, the latter said that he very much doubted that the Board would agree to back the project on the evidence given in the report. In Willams’s opinion the production figures and the sales forecasts were far from optimistic. Yet he allowed Davis to arrange the demonstration of the BSM-3 for the Board.

The meeting of the Board took place in ten days and Davis invited to explain and defend his report. At first Davis’s proposal to revive the BSM -3 project was greeted with a mixture of surprise and skepticism but when Davis demonstrated the model of the new radiophone the Board were very much impressed and so by the end of the meeting there was quite a different atmosphere in the Boardroom.

Mr. John Williams – a Chairman and Managing Director of Smallcrown

Mr.Eldridge – Director of the bank

Mr.Davis – a Marketing Manager of Smallcrown

Vocabulary Notes on the Text

relevant information – относящаяся к делу информация

withaviewof… – с целью, с намерением

to extend the deadline – отодвинуть крайний срок

productionfigures– производственные данные

productioncapacity– производственная мощность

to go ahead with something – продолжать делать что-либо

on the evidence given in the report – с учетом данных доклада

sales forecasts – прогнозы сбыта

to arrange a demonstration – организовать показ

Task 2. Translate the following words and learn their pronunciation.

Agenda, capacity, mixture, skepticism, atmosphere, relevant, definite, forecasts, deadline, ahead, minutes

Task 3. Find in the text words and expressions close in meaning to the following.

Data, precise, to prolong, to exhibit, with the purpose of, additional, to be very much surprised, to go on doing something, to be of the opinion, to support

Task 4. Explain the meaning of the following terms and expressions in English

Sales forecasts, to arrange a demonstration, production figures, to go ahead with something, production capacity, minutes, deadline

Task 5. Give English equivalents of the following Russian words and phrases

а) крайний срок, смесь удивления и скептицизма, прогнозы сбыта, относящаяся к делу информация, производственные данные, повестка дня, дополнительная информация

б) увеличить на 25%, внести в повестку дня, быть под впечатлением от чего-либо, представить доклад, возобновить проект, встретить что-либо с удивлением, сомневаться (в успехе).

Task 6. Complete the following sentences using the appropriate words from the boxes below:

1. Williams told Davis that the findings of the _____ ____ did not satisfy him.
2. As the ___ did not convince him, he felt that the study would not be enough to persuade the Board to _____ the BSM – 3 project.
3. He said he needed ___ ____ to present the Board, not ______.
4. He added that the ___ ___ in the survey were not satisfying on their own and asked Davis to prepare another report for _____ by the date of the coming Board meeting.

1. Healey brought the ____ for the next Board meeting in to Williams.
2. As Willams didn’t want to discuss the details of the BSM-3 project, the wording of ____ three had to be ___.
3. Williams did this so that Coleman would have no chance of _____ the ____ of the BSM – 3 and pressing for ____ of the project.
4. He also told Healey to look up the _____ of the meeting at which the BSM-3 had been suspended in case he was unable to keep Coleman off the ____ of development projects.

For Additional Reading

Visiting Customers

Task 1. Read and translate the text.

I.

In view of inevitably delayed delivery dates, it was very important to get in touch with all Smallcrown’s customers.

The Sales and the Marketing Managers agreed that the sales force should approach customers individually and follow this up with an explanatory letter. Davis emphasized that they should reassure the customers that Small crown could still deliver the goods. They settled that Whitney himself would visit as many customers as possible after sending out an explanatory letter.

Later that week Whitney together with one of his salesmen visited Boyd Hardware. Whitney supposed that Boyd Hardware’s case would be easy to handle but after the meeting with the chief of the company expecting a large order of hardware components by the end of the month, he was not so sure. During the meeting Whitney didn’t waste time making excuses or explaining Smallcrown’s problems. He just came straight to the point and questioned whether Boyd Hardware had sufficient stocks to give Smallcrown the chance to re-schedule its deliveries. By checking the stock levels it was established that Boyd Hardware had enough components to last for several months, so it would be possible to re-schedule deliveries without disrupting Boyd Hardware’s production.

Yet in spite of this the company chief pointed out that he didn’t like the idea of being overdependent on Smallcrown for supplies. He pointed out that it would have been almost impossible to find alternative supplies at short notice if the fire had been bad enough to halt production for several months. He added also that he had got a number of attractive offers from some of Smallcrown’s competitors, though he hoped there would not be any necessity to make use of them.

While Whitney was busy making tours of domestic customers, Davis was preparing to set off for the Continent.

II.

The first overseas customer that Davis visited was Rik Bekker in Antwerp. The news that Smallcrown was unable to deliver goods on time put Bekker in a difficult position. It was only a short time ago that he persuaded the reluctant Board of Directors to order components from a British firm. To admit now that the components would not be delivered on time would make things very unpleasant both for him and for Smallcrown. Davis noticed that Bekker’s order was extremely large and asked him if he really needed two thousand components per month right through the winter. Bekker admitted that there might be some seasonal variation in his schedules but just at that time they needed the goods urgently. So Davis failed to change Bekker’s mind on this point.

From Antwerp Davis flew on to Bremen where he met Klaus Schneider, Smallcrown’s agent in Germany. During the course of their conversation Davis brought up the question of the BSM-3 project and was surprised to see that Schneider was extremely interested in it. Schneider even asked if Smallcrown would be willing to sell him the patents in Germany. He said that there was now market for this device although there had not been five years ago when the BSM-3 project was suspended.

Next day Davis visited Dr.Scheeper, Smallcrown’s largest customer in Germany. Once again he had to explain how the fire had affected Smallcrown’s delivery schedules and apologize for the inevitable delays. Dr.Scheeper pointed one order for a consignment of 3500 components that he needed for his model BN33 and that could not be delayed. Although Davis knew hat it would be a problem to meet this order, he promised to do his best.

Then Davis brought up the question of Dr.Scheeper’s previous orders and found out that Dr.Scheeper’s company no longer needed them as they had developed a cheaper model and were going to use components of other types. So Davis asked Dr.Scheeper to arrange an immediate delivery of the ordered components to Antwerp since their customers there needed exactly those components.

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