Text 3 Reading 1 hour
PART ONE Questions 1 – 8
Look at the sentences below and at the five managers’ comments on leadership on the opposite page
Which new item (A, B, C ,D or E) dose each statement 1 – 8 refer to ?
For each statement ! – 8 , make one letter(A, B, C ,D or E) on your Answer Sheet .
You will need to use some of these letters more than once .
1、Successful leadership involves making sure that employees accept new ideas.
2、A good leader can bring success to a company in difficulties
3、Leaders should be assessed on the basis of their achievements
4、The personalities of good leaders are generally different from those of other managers
5、Patience is a valuable quality in a successful leader
6、Leaders consider potential changes in what their company does for others
7、Good leaders will encourage their staff if their organization is in difficulties
8、Leaders need to adapt their behaviour to suit different circumstances
A Maurizio Verna
Long-term, visionary business leaders must be prepared to invest to get what they want for their company. They know when and how to apply pressure and to take risks, when they need to display a more hands-off approach. I have a pretty clear view of my ideal business leader, and of course that’s where I ‘m trying to head: he or she should start up and grow a cash-rich, multi-interest international organization of tremendous strength and depth.
B Sue Tucker
The pace of technological change, and the rate at which businesses are changing , requires leaders to have a particular aptitude for technology and an understanding of the internet. A lot of people are aware of the opportunities here ,but awareness alone isn’t enough: in a true leader this needs to be coupled with clever marketing, product design and technological innovation, and keeping abreast of everything going on in the company. In fact the acid test , I think , is being able to use all of these skills to turn around a failing company.
C Carol Godfrey
Effective leaders stand out from the herd. They’re often idiosyncratic, even eccentric.They have the confidence to be themselves, and not to adopt the language and attributes of the run-of-the-mill professional managers and accountants. What’s crucial is having the charisma or whatever it is that gives their staff confidence in them, so they can keep everyone on board when they want to make innovations. So often these don’t get off the ground because of lack of leadership, because after all, our response to change is significantly affected by how it’s introduced.
D Brian Matthews
Leadership is about making things happen and being judged by results. Good ideas that go nowhere are a waste of time. Anticipate needs-those of customers for instance-and initiate action to meet those needs before the people concerned have even recognized they’ve got them. That way you’ll always be ahead of the game, whatever line you’re in. For instance, top stockbrokers will learn all about you and your business and keep themselves completely up to date with your field in order to advise you. If they’re really good they ‘ll recognize trends even before you do .
E Ana Costa
Outstanding leaders understand both tactics and strategy, and are prepared to play a very long game to achieve their objectives. They understand that in negotiations they need the “ win-win” concept, because losers risk losing their dignity, which is no good for your long-term business relationship with them. Leaders must stay optimistic, whatever the odds, and keep up morale of their company, even when the going’s tough. It’s important to be very much hands-on, too. A good leader will champion ideas that keep the company in the forefront.
PART TWO Questions9– 14
Read the text taken from an article about the development of international managers
Choose the best sentence from the opposite page 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 .
There is an example at the beginning .(0)
Search for the “ worldly –wise” company executives
The quest for international managers is underway in virtually every industrialized economy , the search has been made urgent by the globalization of world markets and the growth in crossborder mergers and acquisitions. (0) Many firms report being so stretched that they simply do not have enough of the high-quality people they require to lead their their global expansion.
Other companies are having difficulties releasing experienced people from existing operations in order to lead new international ventures. There are indications that a shorftage of internationally skilled people may be an important constraint on firms’ international ambitions. (9) However, identifying the need for international managers is easier than developing them.
So what makes an international manager? Paul Evans, a professor at INSEAD, the European business school, does not believe that any particular nationality produces a more international manager. Neither does he believe that it’s a matter of having the ability to cope with a lifestyle that involves working in Madrid one day, London the next and Berlin the day after. (10) Rather, he believes that the secret of being a good international manger is being comfortable with managing diversity.
Ford of Europe, which has encouraged the development of international managers for more than 20 years, says that its managers are globally-minded before they become global operators. (11) a car that you buy in the UK, for example, is going to be the same car that sells in Germany, Finland and Portugal, so the people who are involved in the car’s development have to be aware of the market requirements in all those different countries.
Generally, it seems that the only effective way to develop international skills and perspectives is through direct international experience. (12) Such experiences open people’s minds to the fact that things are done differently lese where and encourages them to think in a wilder context..
Formulating effective strategies for developing a company’s management resource is a demanding exercise, with conflicting issues to be solved (13) Another dilemma is whether to use local managers or expatriates.
The recruitment and development of effective international managers requires considerable financial resources and can be hard to justify at budget meetings. (14) however , without them, companies will continue to find their expansion plans frustrated by a lack of internationally effective managers.
A from the moment they join the company, employees are faced with having to think internationally
B This can be through involvement in international task forces or through living and working abroad.
C Should , for example, only an elite few receive international experience in preparation for top jobs or should it be offered to a wider group?
D these problems mean that developing managers who think and operate globally is absolutely vital for companies operating in foreign markets.
E Language training , overseas visits and in-house management courses are all expensive to implement.
F Jet-setting between international operations merely creates a business equivalent of the over-packaged tourist
G Companies are now emphasizing the human skills involved in managing other people
H These trends are pushing companies’ existing management resources to the limit
PART THREE Questions 15 - 20
Read the following extract from a book on management and the questions on the opposite page .
For each question 15– 20,mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose
In the last few years, managers throughout industry have seen more changes than many of them could have expected to see in their entire working lives having to communicate information which often leads to feelings of insecurity has become a key activity. From being regarded as relatively unimportant in many companies , management employee communication has become a central corporate need.
Concordia International provides a good example of a company that has adjusted well to the changing needs for communication . since 1995 , Concordia has been turned inside-out and upside-down, to ensure that it is a marketing –led, customer-responsive business, one that looks outwards at customers and competitors, rather than inwards at its own processes and the way things were done in the past. In the last eight years, Concordia has reduced its workforce by more than 80.000 people - or 35% -on a voluntary basis, with further downsizing anticipated.
