Global Economy

So, there are a lot of trouble spots, but problems often located in only four areas:

The first is low profitability of the sales. So, you can solve this problem with decreasing of the prices and with good advertising.

The second is low quality of offered services and goods and poor range of products. So, you can solve this problem with increasing of the activity of R & D department.

The third is low qualification of personnel. This problem can be solved with organizing of additional courses for improvement of professional skill.

The fourth is bad customer care. For solving this problem you can use different methods, for example, granting of discounts and opportunities to buy on credit.

To make troubleshooting more effective there are also some tips:

1. First of all it’s necessary to locate the cause of the problem.

2. Then to get the facts.

3. Then to look at past history and to listen to experts’ opinions.

4. And at last to consider possible solutions.

In conclusion I want to add, that troubleshooting is so important in business, because these days business is extremely competitive.

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Everyone knows that business is international. Business is a word, which is even commonly used in many different languages, so business people often have to travel a lot and meet their foreign colleagues and business partners. I think knowing cultural differences and having cross-cultural skills are one of the most important things, which help to achieve success in any spheres of activities and, especially, in business. To conclude a good agreement with a foreign colleague a businessman has to know cultural differences, but better to know a language of the country, where you are going to make a business trip. I’m absolutely convinced, that a foreign partner will be glad to know, that a businessman knows customs, culture and habits of his country, and I feel that it can assist to their business.

Finally, I’d like to say, to avoid misunderstandings with a partner, it’s better to know social conventions and to have good cross-cultural skills, and your partner will also appraise at yours true worth.

There are some good companies, whose goods I prefer. They are «Benetton», «Sony» and «L’Oreal».

Speaking about «Benetton», I would like to say that it is an Italian company. «Benetton» is known as a very successful clothing manufacture. Nowadays it produces sportswear, which is known as a high quality clothes. It is an interesting fact, that «Benetton» has another trademark called «Sisley», which produces more expensive clothing.

As for «Sony» this company is the world leader in electronics. For example, it produces the Sony Walkman and computer games. Nowadays «Sony» works with musical production. It made the music for the film “Titanic”.

«L’Oreal» is a well-known company, which produces cosmetics. Million women all over the world choose its goods, such as powder, mascara and so on. «L’Oreal» has the slogan “Because I’m worth it”.

I choose the goods of these companies for their quality. It is not the news that all these companies try to attract as many customers as possible and to win their loyalty.

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The question is to find all pros and cons of virtual and traditional types of retailing. The main disadvantage of virtual retailing is in the quantity of its potential buyers. Nobody will deny that the customer profile is limited. To be a customer of virtual shop you need the Internet, TV shopping channels or mail-order catalogues. But this market is full of opportunities because everyday thousands of people open comfort and convenience of virtual shopping.

Besides if you are the owner of a virtual retail outlet you have not to find place or build your shop (as we know it is really difficult and expensive) and you have not to pay rent monthly and to recruit additional personnel.

And as for traditional shopping, people will never refuse the opportunity to see and to touch the things they want to buy.

This way I can’t give an exact answer to this question, because it depends on kind of goods I will sell. For example, if I sell compact discs or books, it will be reasonably to open the Internet shop, but as for food-stuffs and clothes it will be reasonably to open a traditional retail outlet.

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At the beginning I would like to say that every serious company has own code of practice, or in other words a set of rules for customer care. To my mind it is very important to have a good customer care for any business. Because if the company has good customer care, its clients come back and purchase new goods again. Therefore the company’s profits will be constantly growing. And as a result it will be more competitive. It seems to me that these conditions are guarantee of success.

A good example of such companies is IKEA Business and British Airways. As for the IKEA Business Company it offers a full range of services for customers. Firstly, its good-trained staff can help with everything from individual workstations to planning a complete office. Secondly, its customers can purchase what they want from the special Business catalogue, or from the complete range in the store. As for British Airways company its employees, who make customers unhappy, must apologize in person. The company has a number of items; they are given to customers who are dissatisfied with their service, such as toys, chocolates, calculators and so on.

The world of work is vast and constantly changing. Nine-to-five job is becoming less and less popular. Thus instead of working full-time regular hours a lot of employees prefer to work part-time or to share a job with someone else, which is called job-sharing. There is one more flexible arrangement. People with flexible working hours are free, within limits, to work when they want, as long as they do a minimum number of hours. This is known as flextime.

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Не works best who knows his trade

A lot of people live outside a city center and travel to work there everyday. They are called commuters and their activity is known as commuting. One more form of working is telecommuting. Telecommuting is a term for work that can be done at a distance, usually with the use of information and communications technologies. There are several forms of telecommuting: working from home using computers, term-time only contracts, videoconferencing and teleconferencing. The main benefit of the growth of telecommuting is an improved lifestyle for all people. Local employers report that they are exploring the use of telecommuting for five main reasons: to reduce costs, to provide uninterrupted thinking time, and to comply with environmental regulations. Telecommuting is more productive, gives more leisure time, more education, less pollution, and a healthier and wealthier society. It’s a fact that all the hours saved from repetitive commuting are equivalent to 30 working days per annum. In addition, telecommuting can allow you to fit more staff into the same space. International evidence shows that more flexible working arrangements lead to higher productivity. But telecommuting also benefits employees. But there are several reasons why telecommuting hasn’t become the major tendency. Managers are often nervous when they leave their staff out of sight of the office. For the telecommuters working from home might bring unforeseen hazards. Moreover, some workers don’t want to lose the isolation they get while commuting.

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Money is a good servant but a bad master

Many people use the term career to mean the job, occupation, or vocation a person has. However, a career involves much more. A career is work-related activities that develop throughout a lifetime. It includes the job or a series of jobs a person has until retirement. It also involves the way a person’s work roles affect other life roles.

Almost every adult has a career of some kind. Most people build a career to help them satisfy certain goals. Such goals might include earning a living or helping others. Most people are happiest in jobs that fit them.

Many much about working conditions, special abilities required, probable earning, job security, chances for advancement.

Working conditions mean the environment in which a particular job is performed. A work environment might be indoors and outdoors or involve extreme heat or cold. Some jobs involve high levels of dust or noise, physical hazards or mental stress. Some occupations call for more intelligence, artistic talent or other abilities that people possess. In exploring an occupation you will want to know how much money you can expect to earn. For many people job security is an important requirement in selecting an occupation. Choosing the job you should examine possible patterns of promotion, known as career ladders. In some occupations, workers are promoted to higher positions based on their ability and experience.

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The work shows the workman

While collecting the information for this topic I’ve found some theories of the Dollar Sign $ Origins.  

As we know, the symbol of dollar is more recent than the name. And there are some theories about the origin of the dollar.

$ 1___The United States Abbreviation Theory

One of the most popular theories is that the dollar sign is derived from the initials of the United States. If you write a capital “U” on a capital “S” then drop the lower part of the “U”, you will get the dollar symbol with two strokes.

$ 2___The Peso Abbreviation

More widely accepted theory nowadays is that the sign comes from the Spanish peso.

One version of this theory is that the standard abbreviation of “peso” was simply “P”, but the plural form was a large “P” with a small “s” above it. This was simplified by leaving only the upward stroke of the “P”.

But if the peso abbreviation theory is the correct one why is the US dollar sign sometimes written with two vertical strokes?  I don’t know the answer for this question.

$ 3____The Shilling Abbreviation Theory

There is a view that the dollar symbol derives from the abbreviation for the shilling, which was used in Britain. A stroke through a letter was sometimes used to indicate that the letter was an abbreviation. The classic example of this is the British pound symbol £ the capital L with a stroke. The pound symbol is derived from the Latin word libra.

$ 4____The Slavery Theory

Some scientists suppose that the dollar symbol, $, is derived from the words for “slave” and “nail” in Spanish. The shackles worn by slaves could be locked by a nail which was passed through the rings or loops. The Spanish word for slave is esclavo and for “nail” is clavo. You can see it on the blackboard “S-clavo = esclavo”.

As for me, I think that the first theory is the best one. And which of these ones do you like?

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Money is a good servant but a bad master

Today I’d like to present you some general facts about the first American currency and the dollar itself:

The colonists in America used whatever foreign coins they could obtain. At various times in different colonies paper money was issued and it was one of the causes of the American Revolution. The rebels financed their war of independence largely by printing paper money notes that were called Continentals (you can see them on the pictures below). By the end of the war they became practically worthless because of hyperinflation.

In 1792 the newly independent United States chose the dollar, subdivided into 100 cents, as the unit of American currency.

Foreign coins were supposed to lose their status as legal tender within 3 years of the US coins coming into circulation.

Some more old dollars:

Colonial Currency, Georgia, $4, 1776

Colonial Currency, Pennsylvania, 4 pounds, 1777

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Не that has no money needs no purse

To be continued…