STRATEGIC THINKING BUSINESS VOCABULARY IN USE (ADVANCED)

 

BUSINESS VOCABULARY IN USE (ADVANCED) 16. STRATEGIC THINKING

 

A Strategy A strategy (countable noun) is a plan or series of plans for achieving success. Strategy (uncountable noun) is the study of the skills, knowledge, etc. required to make such plans. Strategic success in a commercial organization is often measured in terms of profitability, the amount of money it makes in relation to the amount invested. An important part of planning is resource allocation. This is the way finance, people and assets – equipment, buildings, know-how, etc. – are going to be used to achieve a particular objective. B Companies and markets EXERCISES 16.1 Look at the questions from shareholders at the annual meeting of Topaz, a car company. Complete the chief executive’s answers with appropriate forms of expressions from A opposite.   1 Why has the company bought out its rival, Rivera?   This was a ________ ________ to broaden our customer base. 2 Some of the Topaz’s plants have very low productivity. What are you doing about this?   We have taken steps to ensure that our ________ are used more effectively. This is an important part of our strategic ________ process. 16.2 Match the underlined phrases below to the expressions in B opposite that refer to the same idea. Coffeeway (CW) is a successful American chain of coffee shops. It wanted to (1) aggressively enter the Chinese coffee shop market with shops all over China. CW signed an agreement with a partner, Dragon                         this strategy did not work, and California Coffee later sold its outlets to CW/DE and decided to (5) leave the market.

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