商務英語考試《BEC中級》真題預測匯編

試題1

Evaluatingtheperformanceoftheboard

Fewemployeesescapetheannualortwice-yearly

performancereview.(0)GTheanswerisnota

greatnumber.Andthesmallerthecompany,thefewerchecks

thereareonhowwellthe

directorsaredoing.Someofthelargestcompanies

formallyassesstheperformanceoftheirboard,butvery

fewneworgrowingcompanieshavemanagedtogetroundto

establishinganysuchprocedure.

Manybusinessexpertsbelieve,however,thatitis

importantforallcompaniestoreviewtheperformanceof

theboard.(8)Anotherreasonisthatthe

boarditselfneedsinformationon

howwellitisdoing,justasmuchasotheremployees

do.Forthechiefexecutive,appraisalofsomesortis

absolutelyessentialforhisorherownsakeandforthe

goodofthecompany.Indeed,

manyofthosewhohavereachedthislevelremarkon

howlonelythejobofchiefexecutiveisandhowfew

opportunitiestheygettodiscussissuesrelatingtoit.

Thereissomeevidencetoshowthatoncesmaller

companiesputaboardappraisalprocessinplace,theyfind

thisprocessrelativelyeasytooperate.

(9)Theircounterpartsinlarger

organisations,however,areoftenafraidthat

appraisalscouldbeachallengetotheirstatus.

So,howshouldcompaniesassesstheirboard?

(10)Ataverybasiclevel,thiscouldsimply

meangettingallthedirectorstowritedownwhattheyhave

achievedandhowtheycanimproveonit.Attheotherend

ofthescaleisthefull1360-degree*appraisal.Here,each

directorisappraisedinasystematicmannerbya

combinationofthechairmanandfellowdirectors.

Inthelargestcompaniestherearemanymethodsfor

assessingtheboard.Anumberofsuchcompanieshave

self-assessmentschemes.Thechairmanmaymeeteachboard

member

individuallytoaskhowthingsaregoing,inafairly

informalway.Thewholeboardmightalsomeettotalkabout

itsprogressinopensession.(11)These

mightaskforpeople1sopinions

ontheboard1smaintasksoronhowwellthecommittees

areworking.

Researchindicatestherehasbeensomeimprovementin

thewaytheappraisalofboardmembersisconducted.

(12)Thechairmanwillhavebeeninvolved

directlyorindirectlyinthe

appraisalofallmembersoftheboard.Whosejobis

it,then,toappraisethechairman?

AItisoftenthecasethatthedirectorsofsuch

companiesareevenhappytoreceivecriticism,asthiscan

preventthemfrommakingbasicmistakes.

BTherestoftheworkforceseesitasunfairifthe

directorsaretheonlymembersofthecompanytoescape

appraisal.

CTheseareencouragingastheyputalimitonthepower

ofthechairmantoassessfellowdirectors.

DAlternatively,questionnairesmightbedistributed

todirectors,formingthebasisforfuturediscussion.

EOneissueremains,however,whenalltheothershave

beendealtwith.

FItisgenerallyagreedthatitisthechairman's

responsibilitytoensuretheregularappraisalofeach

memberoftheboard.

GHowever,onewondershowmanycompanieshaveinplace

aformalappraisalprocessfortheirboardofdirectors.

參考答案：

《Evaluatingtheperformanceoftheboard》,評估董

事局的表現。眾所周知一個公司里面是經常對員工的表現進行評

估的，那么誰又來評估董事局的表現呢?這篇文章講了對董事局

表現進行評估的重要性和一些方法。

第八題，前面說對董事局的表現進行評估是很重要的。空格

后面的句子中有anotherreason,可見這個第八空應該填入對

董事局表現進行評估原因的句子。B符合這一特點，為

什么要進行評估，因為“如果決策層是公司唯一逃避評估的

成員的話，其他的員工會視之為不公平。”

第九題，前面說小公司會發現這種評估過程更容易操作。空

格后面一個however,說大公司的決策層會認為評估是對他們地

位的一種挑戰。可見這個空格應該填入表示小公司愿意接受評估

的句子。A符合這一特點：通常這些公司的決策層會很樂意接受

批評，因為這可以防止他們犯錯誤。這里的suchcompanies是

個暗示，可以和前面的smallercompanies對應上。

第十題，前面問怎樣對公司的董事局進行評估。那么很明顯,

后面跟的句子應該和評估的方式方法有關。符合這一標準的只有

F：一般認為確保對董事局里每個成員的定期評估是主席的責任。

也就是說是依賴于主席進行評估。responsibility是個關鍵詞。

第十一題。第五段依然是講評估的'方法，具體的過程。空

格的前面說主席可以單獨會見董事局的每一個成員，或者是集體

在一起談話。空格后面說這些可以詢問人們關于董事局主要任務

以及委員會的工作進展情況的意見。askforpeople,sopinion

是個關鍵點，什么可以詢問人們的觀點？調查。選D,

questionnaires是個關鍵的暗示：或者，也許可以給經理們分

發調查問卷，形成未來討論的基礎。

第十二題，這一空前面說有調查顯示對董事局成員進行評估

的方法有所改善。空格后面來了一個疑問，提出沒有人評估主席。

可見第十二題有轉折的意思，選E,有關鍵的連詞however,而且

E的oneissueremains,正好對應最后一段最后一句話的一個

問題。內容上也吻合。

試題2

B1ItwouldbeadvisableforFlackstoconsultcustomers

beforedevelopinganewproduct.

D2Producinggoodsforspecialistmarketsmight

increaseFlacks1profits.

C3Flacksmayneedtochangethefunctionofoneof

itsfacilities.

A4Flacksshouldutiliseitscurrentexpertiseto

enteradifferentmarket.

B5Flacksmayneedtoconsiderclosingitscurrent

productionfacility.

C6Flacksshoulddeveloptheconnectionsithas

establishedwithleadingretailers.

A7Expandingtheproductrangewouldnotbeaproblem

fortheworkforce.

FlacksisaUK-basedcompanythatproducesfashion

accessoriesforwomen.Howcanitcontinue

togrowitsbusiness?

ASusanFalmer

Facedwithashrinkingmarket,cheapimportsand

competitivepricing,Flackswillhavetowork

hardtoincreaseitsmargins.Theyneedtomoveinto

amorepromisingmarket,onewheredemand

isgrowingandwherethecompanycanexploitexisting

skillsandcontacts.Theycouldthinkabout

brandextension-thiswouldnotbeagiantleapand

thesalesforcewouldtakeitinitsstride.Also,

theywouldn*tneedtore-equiptheirfactoryandcould

usenon-UKsourcingiffacilitiesherearein

shortsupply.

BMesutGuzel

Theyhavethefundamentalsofasurvivalstrategyin

amarketwhereoutsourcedmanufactureand

branddifferentiationholdthekeytosuccess.Ithink

theyshouldinitiallylocatesomeoftheir

productioninanothercountry,wheremanufacturing

qualitytendstobebetteranditiseasierto

meetchangingcustomerdemands.Buttheyshouldalso

regularlymonitorproductioninBritain

andthinkaboutoutsourcingallthisworkabroadat

somepointiftheyneeditdonefaster.The

companyshouldcontinuetoworkoninnovativeproducts,

andthoroughmarketresearchwillhelp

toensureanynewideasarewellreceived.

CGaryWilmot

Inordertobeattheirrivalsinahighlycompetitive

market,Flacksshouldensuretheirproductsare

attractiveandbuildontheirrelationshipswiththe

bigstoresratherthantryingtogoitaloneand

marketdirectly.Theyshouldalsoconsiderrefocusing

productionbyusingtheirUKfactoryfor

high-specificationproducts.Theycouldeventually

buildmoreproductionoverseasinacycleof

continuousdevelopment.

DMichalKaminski

Thedemandforfashionaccessoriesisrelativelyflat

andthecompanyshouldconsiderexploiting

nichemarketstoimproveitsmargins.Butevenwithin

these,Flacksmustdistinguishitsgoods

fromthoseofitsrivalsintermsofquality,

performanceanddesign.Innovativesales,marketing

andPRarevitaltoexploitthesenicheproducts.One

competitiveadvantagethatFlacksdoeshave

isproductiontimes.Manyretailchainsnowhave

two-tiersupplychainsandFlackscouldfocuson

top-uporders.Theymightalsoinvestigateothersales

channelssuchasmailorder.

答案解析：

這篇文章是關于一個女性時尚飾品公司一一Flacks的發展

戰略問題，四個專家給出了自己的建議。這套題目的答案稍微有

些隱晦。

第一題，說在開發新產品前咨詢客戶的意見對于Flacks來

講是很明智的。答案是B段的最后一句：thoroughmarket

researchwillhelptoensureanynewideasarewell

received.徹底的市場調查能夠確保新的思想很好的被接受。

Marketresearch,市場調查，在很大程度上就

是咨詢客戶的意見(consultcustomers),anynewideas

可以對應于developinganewproduct,能夠wellreceived,

那么對于公司來講當然就是advisable了。選B。第二題，說為

專業市場生產產品可以增加利潤。答案是D段的這么一句：the

companyshouldconsiderexploitingnichemarketsto

improveitsmargins這題關鍵是要理解一個市場的含義：niche

marketo看英英解釋：asmallareaoftradewithintheeconomy,

ofteninvolvingspecializedproductsoimproveitsmargins

也就是increaseprofits,選D。

第三題，說Flacks可能需要改變它的一個設備的功能。這

里答案不是太明顯，是C段的這么一句：Theyshouldalso

considerrefocusingproductionbyusingtheirUKfactory

for

high-specificationproductso他們也需要考慮通過利用

英國工廠生產高規格產品來調整生產焦點。也就是說，英國工廠

原來不是生產高規格產品的，即題目說的.改變它的一個設備的

功能。

第四題，說Flacks可以利用現有的技能來進入一個新的市

場。答案是A段的這么一句：

Theyneedtomoveintoamorepromisingmarket,one

wheredemandisgrowingandwherethecompanycanexploit

existingskillsandcontactso他們需要進入一個更有發展前

景的市場，一個需求增長并且公司可以利用現有技能和合同的市

場。exploitexistingskills也就是utiliseitscurrent

expertiseo

第五題，說Flacks可以考慮關閉現有的生產設備。這題也

有些隱晦，答案是這么一句：

thinkaboutoutsourcingallthisworkabroado關鍵

就在于outsource這個詞的意思：turntooutsidesuppliersor

manufacturers外購。既然是要考慮outsourceturnto

outsidemanufactures,那么也就是可以考慮關閉自己的生產設

備了。選B。

第六題，說Flacks應該考慮發展同領先的連鎖商已經建立

起來的關系。答案在C段：

buildontheirrelationshipswiththebigstores發

展他們同大商店的關系。

第七題，說擴展產品范圍對勞動力來講不是問題。答案在A

段：Theycouldthinkabout

brandextension-thiswouldnotbeagiantleapand

thesalesforcewouldtakeitinitsstride.他們可以考

慮品牌擴張——這不是一個巨大的跳躍，在銷售力量的步調范圍

之內。言下之意，不是問題。選A。

試題3

Planning

Inanyplanningsystem,fromthesimplestbudgetingtothe

mostcomplexcorporateplanning,thereisanannual

process.Thisispartlyduetothefactthatfirms

(19)theiraccountingonayearly(20)but

alsoBECausesimilar(21)oftenoccurinthe

market.

Usually,thelargerthefirm,thelongertheplanning

takes.Buttypically,planningfornextyearmaystartnine

monthsormoreinadvance,withvariousstagesof

evaluationleadingto(22)ofthecompleteplan

threemonthsbeforethestartoftheyear.

Planningcontinues,however,throughouttheyear,

sincemanagers(23)progressagainsttargets,

whilelookingforwardtothenextyear.Whatishappening

nowwill(24)theobjectivesandplansforthe

future.

Intoday*sbusinessclimate,asmarketsconstantly

changeandbecomemoredifficultto(25),some

analystsbelievethatlong-termplanningispointless.In

somemarketstheymayberight,aslongascompaniescan

buildthesortofflexibilityintotheir(26)which

allowsthemto(27)toanysuddenchanges.

Mostfirms,however,needtoplanmorethanoneyear

aheadinorderto(28)theirlong-termgoals.This

mayreflectthetimeittakestocommissionandbuilda

newproductionplant,or,inmarketing(29),it

maybeaquestionofhowlongittakestoresearchand

launcharangeofnewproducts,andreachacertain

(30)inthemarket.If,forexample,itisgoing

totakefiveyearsforaparticularairlinetobecomethe

(31)choiceamongstbusinesstravellersoncertain

routes,theairlinemustplanforthevarious(32)

involved.

Everyone-yearplan,therefore,mustbe(33)

inrelationtolonger-termplans,anditshouldcontaindie

stagesthatarenecessarytoachievethefinalgoals.

19AmakeupBcarryoutCbringaboutDputdown

20AbasisBgroundsCfoundationDstructure

21AdistributionsBguidesCdesignsDpatterns

22AapprovalBpermissionCconsentDdecision

23AvalueBinspectCreviewDsurvey

24AcommandBpromptCinfluenceDpersuade

25AguessBspeculateCreckonDpredict

26AoperationsBtechniquesCmeasuresDexercises

27AanswerBrespondCcounterDreply

28AmoveBleadCdevelopDbenefit

29AexpressionsBdescriptionsCwordsDterms

30AreputationBpositionCsituationDinfluence

31AdesiredBselectedCpreferredDsupposed

32AactsBstepsCmeansDpoints

33AhandedoverBdrawnupCmadeoutDwrittenoff

參考答案：

這篇文章是關于公司計劃的(planning),做計劃時的過程和

需要考慮的一些因素。

全文的第一句話說公司做的決定是一個年度過程(annual

process)o接下來談到原因。19題，makeup是組成、捏造、化

妝的意思，用在這里和accounting搭配不上;carryout是執行

(todosomethingthatneedstobeorganizedand

planned)；bringabout是帶來，使發生(tomakesomething

happen)；putdown放下，鎮壓。從意思上看，應該選B,carry

OUto

事實上，carryoutaccountingon…??basis是金融英語

里專業且地道的說法。最常見的一種是carryoutaccountingon

theaccrualbasis執行權責發生制。相應的，20題選basis,

公司時在一年的基礎上執行會計準則的。

21題，這里需要理解上下文的含義。這一整句話仍然是在

說明公司進行planning的原因。正是因為相似的'模式會在市場

上出現，所以公司才需要進行計劃。選pattems是最符合原義

的。

22題，很明顯，這里填入的詞是表示批準、通過之類的，

是指年前三個月完整的計劃就會被通過。從中文意思上看，A、B、

C三個詞都是符合的。具體看英文解釋對幾個詞的用法進行區

分。

approval：whenaplan,decision,orpersonis

officiallyaccepted批準，正式的

eg：Thepresidenthasalreadygivenhisapprovaltothe

plan.

permission：whensomeoneisofficiallyallowedtodo

something允許，也是正式的

eg：Youmustaskpermissionbeforetakingany

photographsinsidethechurch.

approval：whenaplan,decision,orpersonis

officiallyaccepted批準，正式的

eg：Thepresidenthasalreadygivenhisapprovaltothe

plan.

permission：whensomeoneisofficiallyallowedtodo

something允許，也是正式的

eg：Youmustaskpermissionbeforetakingany

photographsinsidethechurch.

試題4

自賣自夸

Howdoyoufeelaboutthequalityofourproducts?

你覺得我們產品的質量怎么樣？

Whatabouthavingalookatasamplefirst?

先看一看產品吧？

Whataboutplacingatrialorder?

何不先試訂貨？

Youcanrestassured.

你可以放心。

Wearealwaysimprovingourdesignandpatternsto

conformtotheworldmarket.

我們一直在提高我們產品的設計水平，以滿足世界市場的要

求。

ThisnewproductistothetasteofEuropeanmarket.

這種新產品歐洲很受歡迎。

Ithinkitwillalsofindagoodmarketinyourcountry.

我認為它會在您的國家暢銷。

Finequalityaswellaslowpriceswillhelppushthe

salesofyourproducts.

優良的、質量和較低的價格有助于產品銷售。

Reliabilityisourstrongpoint.

可靠性正是我們產品的優點。

Thisproductisnowingreatdemandandwehaveonhand

manyenquiriesfromothercountries.

這種產品現在需求量很大，我們手頭上有來自其他國家的很

多詢盤。

Doyouhavespecificrequestforpacking?Herearethe

samplesofpackingavailablenow.Youmayhavealook.

你們對包裝有什么特別要求嗎？這是我們目前用的包裝樣

品，你可以看下。

Weregretthatthegoodsyouinquiredaboutarenot

available.

很遺憾，你們所詢貨物目前無貨。

Wouldyouacceptdeliveryspreadoveraperiodoftime?

不知你們能不能接受在一段時間內分批交貨？

試題5

得饒人處且饒人

BEC商務英語核心句型：

Getoffthedoggie'stail.

得饒人處且饒人，放他一馬吧！

Getoffthedoggie*stail.直譯過來就是：“放過狗尾巴”，

顯然不能這樣望文生義，這個句子的正確意思是：“得饒人處且

饒人，放別人一馬”。因此，當美國人說"Getoffthedoggie's

tail.”時,他/她要表達的意思就是："Lethimoff.M."Let's

forgivehimifpossible."、"Let'sbelenientwheneverit

ispossible.，

情景對白：

Terry：Thatguybetrayedus.Ihatehisguts.It'snot

enoughtojustfirehim.

泰瑞：那個家伙背叛了我們。我對他恨之入骨。炒掉他還不

夠解恨。

Benjamin：Enough,Terry.Getoffthedoggie1stail.

本杰明：行了，泰瑞。得饒人處且饒人，放他一馬吧！

搭配句積累：

①I'lllethimgobankruptsoonerorlater.

我遲早要讓他破產。

(2)1saidIwouldneverforgivehimandhewouldpay

thepriceforwhathehaddone.

我之前說過我永遠也不會原諒他，他要為自己的'所作所為

付出代價。

③I'llhavehisheadbecausehehasmadesuchabig

mistake.

他犯了這么大的錯誤，我一定要嚴懲他。

④Allofourworkisinvainbecauseofhim,andIwill

neverlethimoff.

都是因為他，我們辛辛苦苦的成果都白費了，我是不會放過

他的。

BEC商務英語單詞：

lenientadj.寬大的，仁慈的

Hebelievesthegovernmentalreadyislenientwith

drugtraffickers.

他認為政府對毒販已經很寬容了。

ProfessorOswaldtakesasightlymorelenientview.

奧斯瓦爾德教授的觀點稍微溫和些。

Mostoftheothersappealedagainsttheirlifeprison

sentenceswithdeath,hopingformorelenientones.

其他大部分罪犯都進行了上訴，反對法院對他們終生監禁的

判決，并希望受到更寬大的處理。

試題6

OBEC中級商務英語考試真題模擬

Lookatthestatementsbelowandtheadviceto

businessesontheoppositepageaboutusingother

companiestoruntheirITservices.

1、theneedtoteachskillstoemployeesworkingon

theoutsourcedprocess

2、rememberingtheinitialreasonforsettingupthe

outsourcedproject

3、theneedtodrawupagreementsthatsetouthow

integrationistobeachieved

4、addressingtheissueofstaffwhoworkonthe

outsourcedprocessbeingatadistantsite

5、theimportanceofmakingsomeoneresponsiblefor

theintegrationprocess

6、staffontheoutsourcedprojectfamiliarising

themselveswithvariousdetailsofthebusiness

7、problemsbeingassociatedwithanalternativeto

outsourcing

WhenabusinessdecidestooutsourceitsITservices,

itneedstoconsiderthequestionofintegration.Four

expertsgivetheirviews.

A.GianlucaTramcere,SilicaSystems

AnoutsourcedITserviceisneverafullyindependent

entity.Itistiedtothehomecompany'spreviousand

continuingsystemsofworking.Butdespitetheadded

responsibilityofmanagingnewwaysofworking,many

businessesignoretheintegrationprocess.Theyfailto

establishcontractsthatdefinethewaysinwhichthetwo

companieswillworkalongsideoneanother,andfocus

solelyonthetechnologicalaspectsofservicedelivery.

B.KevinRayner,Domola

Businessesneedtobuildintegrationcompetency

centresdedicatedtomanagingtheintegrationeffort.It

iscriticaltohaveanindividualinchargetocheckthat

theexternalandinternalbusinessoperationswork

together.Althoughcompaniesoftenthinkofoutsourcing

asawayofgettingridofpeopleandassets,theyneed

torememberthat,atthesametime,outsourcinginvolves

gainingpeople.Becausethereisanewoperationbeing

carriedoutinadifferentwayoutsideofthehomebusiness,

thiscreatesatrainingelement.

C,ClaytonLocke,DigitalSolutions

Communicationisthekeytosuccess,andoutsourcing

tootherregionsorcountriescanleadtoarangeof

problems.Foranysuchinitiative,itisnecessaryto

createateamwherethereisgood,opencommunicationand

aclearunderstandingofobjectivesandincentives.

Bringingpeopletothehomelocationfromtheoutsourced

centreisnecessary,sinceitcanaidunderstandingofthe

complexitiesoftheexistingsystem.Tointegrate

efficiently,outsourcingpersonnelhavetotalktothe

homecompanysexecutivesanduserstounderstandtheir

experiences.

D.KimNoon,JGTech

Onewaytoavoidthedifficultiesofintegrationis

tocreateajoint-venturecompanywiththeoutsourcer.

Thus,acompanycanswapitsassetsforashareofthe

profits.Yetjointventuresbringpotentialtroubles,and

companiesshouldbecarefulnottolosesightofthe

originalrationaleforoutsourcing：togaincost

efficienciesandqualityofserviceinanareathatfor

somereasoncouldnotbecarriedoutentirelyin-house.

Thecomplexitiesandcostsofajoint-ventureinitiative

shouldnotbeunderestimated.

這篇文章講的是外購(outsourcing),分別有四位專家就這

個問題給出了自己的看法。A段的專家強調建立合同的重要性，

B段專家認為要派專人負責，C段專家講外派人員和本公司之間

要有一個互動，D段專家講如果與外包商(outsourcer)組成聯合

企業的話可能帶來的一系列問題。如果對文章有個大概、基本的

了解，很多題目不用細看就可以得出結論。

第一題的答案稍微有些隱晦，在B段的最后一句。"Because

thereisanewoperationbeingcarriedoutinadifferent

wayoutsideofthehomebusiness,thiscreatesatraining

element.”因為新的操作是在本公司以外的地方以一種新的方式

被執行，所以產生了培訓成分。這里的training對應第一題的

w

“teachskillstoemployeeso第二題的答案在D段中間：

companiesshouldbecarefulnottolosesightofthe

originalrationaleforoutsourcing.這里的?rationale是基

本原理、根本原因的意思。第三題的答案在A段，非常明顯的

establishcontracts。第四段的答案是C段的最后一句話，

outsourcingpersonnelhavetotalktothehomecompany'

sexecutivesanduserstounderstandtheirexperiences.

這里的talkto對應address,向????談話。第四題的意思是“說

明在遠址工作的外購人員的事情"也就是C段最后一句說的外

購人員向公司匯報他們的經歷。第五段的答案在B段，相當明顯：

Itiscriticaltohaveanindividualinchargetocheck

thattheexternalandinternalbusinessoperationswork

togethero需要派專人負責integrationo第六題說“外派人員

要熟悉自身工作的不同細節”，對應C段的“createateamwhere

thereisaclearunderstandingofobjectivesand

incentives.w打造一個對目標和動機都有清晰理解的團隊。第

七題稍微繞一點。題目里的"analternativetooutsourcingw

指的是D段里的"createajoint-venturecompanywiththe

outsourcerw,建立一個聯合企業。D段里的專家一直在強調聯

合企業的麻煩和復雜性（jointventuresbringpotential

troubles),所以是正確答案。

試題7

歷年商務英語考試BEC中級真題

Moderninternationaltradingpracticesare

highlightingthegrowingimportanceoflanguagetraining

Modern-daybusinessreallydoestranscendnational

barriers.ThankstosophisticatedITandcommunications

systems,businessescannowmarkettheirproductsona

trulyglobalscale.Theworldisindisputablybecominga

smallerplace,asserviceandmanufacturingcompanies

searchtheinternationalmarketplacefornewsuppliersand

clients.Businessesmust,however,beawarethatoncethey

expandtheareainwhichtheyoperate,theyfaceincreased

competition.Thestandardandqualityoftheirgoods

becomeincreasinglyimportantinkeepingupwith

competitors.Butmostofall,itistheserviceelement

accompanyingthegoodswhichiscrucialtoacompany1s

successinaparticularmarket.Thisnewphilosophyhas

ledtomanycompanies,someofwhichhaveevenoffered

productsofalesserquality,gainingsuccessoverseas.

Althoughglobalisationmay,insomesenses,have

broughtnationaleconomiesclosertogether,societies

aroundtheworldstillhaveradicallydifferent

expectations,processesandstandards.Thesearenota

functionofeconomicchange,butaremoredeep-rootedand

difficulttoalter.Theycanbeamajorproblemfor

businessesexpandingabroad,withthegreatestobstacle

ofallbeingthelanguagebarrier.Ifyouhavetodealwith

clients,suppliersanddistributorsinarangeof

countries,youwillnotonlyneedtheskillstocommunicate

withthem,youwillalsoneedtoreconcileanynational

biasesyouhavewiththediversewaysofdoingbusiness

thatexistaroundtheglobe.

Thevalueofeffectivecommunicationisnottobe

underestimated.Newtechnologysuchasvideoconferencing

andemailhasplayedapartinmakingthecommunication

processeasier,anditmayalsobepossiblethatthe

introductionoflanguageinterpretationsoftwarewill

helpwithsomeglobalcommunicationsproblems.But,of

course,itisthehumanelementofthecommunication

processthatissovitalinbusiness,especiallyin

negotiations,presentationsandteam-building.Itis

essentialformanagerstomeetregularlywithstaff,

customersandpartners,sothatissuescanbediscussed,

messagescommunicatedandfeedbackobtained.

Thevalueofwell-organisedlanguagetrainingis

immense,andcanbringbenefitstoalllevelsand

departmentswithinamultinationalorganisation.

Unfortunately,however,manyorganisationshaveavery

narrowviewwhenitcomestotrainingofanykind.Often,

anurgentrequirementhastobeidentifiedbeforetraining

isauthorised.Then,atrainingcompanyisemployedora

programmeisdevelopedin-house,theteamistrained,and

thatisseenastheendofthematter.However,thefact

remainsthattrainingprogrammesareeffectiveonlyif

theyarerelevanttoacompany*sbroader,long-termneeds.

Theyshouldberegardedasaninvestmentratherthana

cost.

Changesinexpectationsandattitudesarecertainto

continueforcompaniesthattradeglobally.Althoughsuch

companiesarenotyetfacedwiththeirinternational

partnersandclientsdemandingthatbusinessbeconducted

intheirmothertongue,theyrealisethatoverseas

competitionisincreasingfast.Ifthesecompanieswant

tocontinuetoachievesuccessontheinternational

tradingcircuit,theymustbepreparedtoadaptto

situationsandspeakthe