Examiner’s Report and Model Answers for
English for Business
THIRD LEVEL Series 4 (Code 3041) 2000
LCCI Examinations Board
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English for Business Third Level Series 4 2000
How to use this booklet Examiners’ Reports and Model Answers have been developed by LCCIEB to offer additional information and guidance to Centres, teachers and candidates as they prepare for LCCIEB examinations. The contents of this booklet are divided into 5 elements: (1)
General Comments
– assessment of overall candidate performance in this examination, providing general guidance where it applies across the examination as a whole
(2)
Questions
– reproduced from the printed examination paper
(3)
Model Answers
– summary of the main points that the Chief Examiner expected to see in the answers to each question in the examination paper
(4)
Examiner’s Report
– constructive analysis of candidate error, areas of weakness and other comments that apply to each question in the examination paper
(5)
Helpful Hints
– where appropriate, additional guidance relating to individual questions or to examination technique
Teachers and candidates should find this booklet an invaluable teaching tool and an aid to success. The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board provides Model Answers to help candidates gain a general understanding of the standard required. The Board accepts that candidates may offer other answers that could be equally valid.
Note LCCIEB reserves the right not to produce an Examiner’s Report, either for an examination paper as a whole or for individual questions, if too few candidates were involved to make an Examiner’s Report meaningful.
© LCCI CET 2000 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the Publisher. The book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover, other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publisher. Typeset, printed and bound by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board. 1
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English for Business Third Level Series 4 2000 GENERAL COMMENTS The general response was very encouraging. Most candidates were aware of the conventions of business documents although sometimes inappropriate report formats were used (see Question 2). Most candidates were aware of issues of tone and register and, for example, produced a semi-formal letter in Question 1 and an encouraging memo in Question 4. There were still a number of errors in English common to many papers. Candidates were often confused by the singular nature of non-countable nouns and invented inappropriate plural terms, such as ‘staffs’ or ‘ accommodations’. Words with similar sounds or spellings continue to be confused (such as using ‘except’ instead of ‘accept’ or ‘bored’ instead of ‘board’). Adjectives and adverbs continue to be used incorrectly (eg ‘recently research’ was used instead of ‘recent research’). Once again, many errors were the result of over ambitious sentence construction and vocabulary usage. A concise style is always more appropriate in business and is likely to produce fewer errors. It is always good examination practice for candidates to proofread and check the text produced. A number of careless errors can thus be removed.
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English for Business Third Level Series 4 2000 QUESTION 1 Situation You work for a company called Contronic, which produces electronic components for heating equipment. Your work involves assisting the Production Manager, Grigori Luzhny. Mr Luzhny has told his immediate colleagues in the company that he is to retire from work in April 2001, but this news should not be mentioned to anyone outside the company. This morning Mr Luzhny gave you the following letter which he has received. KUNICO CORPORATION 2-18-4 Shi Ken Bunkyo-ku Tokyo Japan 114 24 November 2000 Dear Grigori It was a pleasure to see you at the Frankfurt Trade Fair last month. We hear rumours that you are about to retire so it is good to know that you are still working for Contronic. As I mentioned when we met, our company is about to launch the new Model C SJ41 (LS) grinding machine. This is at least 25% more efficient than the Model B which you currently use, in terms of production levels and energy used. Pilot investment appraisals have proved this. Although the machine is not officially on sale until May next year, we are giving long-established customers, such as your company, the opportunity to make an earlier priority order. I will be visiting a number of our customers during the forthcoming months and I hope to be in your area during the week beginning 12 February 2001. I will be pleased to see you to give details of the new machine and to discuss priority purchase terms. We will need to spend two or three hours together and I would be grateful if you could suggest a date and a time which would be convenient, so that I can book this appointment first. I hope that everything went well with your daughter and I shall look forward to seeing you in February. Yours sincerely
Kazuo Ozu Kazuo Ozu (Mr) Sales Director Mr Luzhny asks you to reply on his behalf and says: “Please check my diary for week beginning 12 February and arrange a time for Mr Ozu to visit us. I’d like you to attend also as it is important that someone knows what is happening after I retire, so please make sure you are free as well. Tell him that we’re interested in the new machine, but don’t make any promises. We’ll have to see whether it is worthwhile making a large investment at this time, as the Model B machine is working very well. We’ve also bought a stock of spare parts for the Model B. Tell him we’d need to know if these would fit the Model C machine. We will also expect to receive our usual discount; 10% at least. Take care how you mention the discount. Don’t make it sound as if we’re demanding this, but make it clear that this is something we would expect.
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QUESTION 1 CONTINUED You can tell him the good news about Maria. She gave birth to a little boy, Oleg, and I’m now a proud grandfather.” You check Mr Luzhny’s electronic diary and your own office diary for the week beginning 12 February. Extracts from both diaries appear below:
Extract from Mr Luzhny’s electronic diary Week commencing Monday 12 February 2001 Monday 12 February
am pm
Annual Leave Annual Leave
Tuesday 13 February
am pm
1400-1700 Operation Management Group meeting
Wednesday 14 February
am pm
1000-1200 Retirement presentation (J Khan) 1200-1400 Lunch
Thursday 15 February
am pm
Dentist (all morning)
Friday 16 February
am pm
Golf tournament
Extract from your diary Week commencing 12 February 2001 Monday 12 February
am
General Purposes Committee meeting
Wednesday 14 February
1000-1400
Retirement presentation and lunch (J Khan)
Thursday 15 February
am pm
Visit to KMG
Friday 16 February
am pm
New staff induction Golf tournament
Tuesday 13 February
Task Write the letter as instructed. You can assume Contronic headed notepaper is used but you should include all other components of a business letter. (25 marks)
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Model Answer to Question 1
HEADED PAPER 28 November 2000 Mr Kazuo Ozu Sales Director Kunico Corporation 2-18-4 Shi Ken Bunkyo-ku Tokyo Japan 114 Dear Mr Ozu PROPOSED VISIT TO CONTRONIC – FEBRUARY 2001 Thank you for your letter dated 24 November 2000. My colleague, Grigori Luzhny, has asked me to reply on his behalf. We are interested in your new Model C SJ41 (LS) grinding machine and we would like to hear more about it. We note that you are visiting our area in February 2001 and I would suggest that you visit us on the morning of Tuesday 13 February. If this is not convenient, Mr Luzhny and I are also available on the afternoon of the following day, Wednesday 14 February. I would be grateful if you could confirm the date you will be visiting us and the time you expect to arrive. Whilst we are interested in this new machine, there are a number of factors we would have to take into account before we could make any decision to purchase, as I am sure you will appreciate. Our current Model B machine is working well and we have in stock a large number of spare parts for this machine. We hope that these parts can be used on the new machine, and we presume that we will be able to take advantage of our usual discount of at least 10% of the purchase price as a regular customer of Kunico. We will be taking all of these factors into account in our investment appraisal. Mr Luzhny has asked me to thank you for your enquiry about his family and he is delighted to report that he is now a proud grandfather. His daughter, Maria, recently gave birth to a boy, Oleg. I shall look forward to receiving confirmation of your visit. Yours sincerely
A Candidate Assistant to Production Manager
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Examiner’s Report on Question 1 There were few errors in letter layout and conventions. A small number of candidates devised sophisticated letterheads despite being told that these were not necessary and others omitted everything, including the recipient’s address and the date. Normally for this question the candidate can assume that headed notepaper is used but all other components must be included. The main errors concerned who the letter was from. Candidates were asked to reply on behalf of Mr Luzhny. The best way to do this was to write under their own signature, making it clear that this was at the request of Mr Luzhny. However, they could not then talk about ‘my daughter’ as Maria is Mr Luzhny’s daughter. A small number of candidates completely missed the point that Mr Luzhny’s retirement plans were still confidential and should not be disclosed.
Helpful Hints on Question 1 • • •
Do not waste time devising letterheads when not required to do so Read all instructions carefully and clarify what information should be given and what should not be Give careful consideration to the tone and register of the letter, keeping in mind the relative positions of recipient and sender.
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QUESTION 2 Situation You work for the Human Resources Department of Acme Services, a large company that has recently moved its offices from a location in the centre of town to a site on the outskirts. The new site uses offices that were built in the early 1990s and the offices and their grounds are much more spacious than those vacated. Most staff appear to enjoy the cleaner and more attractive environment and initial problems over transport seem to have been resolved. The Human Resources Manager, Ms Karen Too, has passed to you the following memo, which she has received. MEMORANDUM To
Ms Karen Too
From
George Strauss, Chair, Staff Association
Date
27 November 2000
Staff Recreational Facilities I am pleased that the move to our new offices has gone so well. The improved car parking facilities are much appreciated. However, I have been approached by a number of our younger staff who have pointed out that they have a problem at lunch time. Many of these young people either went home at lunch time previously or went into town, but now this is not possible. Most go to the staff canteen for lunch but they cannot remain there for the whole of the lunch hour because of overcrowding. When they have eaten, they can sit outside if the weather is fine, but if it is raining, they have nowhere to go, other than to their offices. Of course, this problem could be resolved partially with the introduction of flexi-time but discussions on this are at an early stage, so perhaps something could be done in the meantime. I would suggest that you provide a room or an area indoors where staff can relax after lunch and at other free times. Alternatively you could reduce the length of the lunch hour and staff could then finish earlier at the end of the day. Perhaps we can discuss this at the next Staff Association Meeting.
Ms Too says: “George has got a fair point here. We will go over to flexi-time eventually, but even when this happens, we should allow staff to choose the length of their lunch break. I don’t like the idea of shortening the lunch hour - but see what the other 4 Department Heads think. You could check how many of our staff are in the younger age group (I know we have taken on a number of these recently) and see how many of them stay for lunch. You could also investigate if there are any spare rooms that we could use. Draft a report for me, please, and tell me what you would recommend. I’ll look at your report before the next Staff Association Meeting. Don’t worry about the cost of providing a room. I think we might have some funds available if we need to do anything.”
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QUESTION 2 CONTINUED Your file of research notes reveals: Age of Office Staff 1 September 2000
Number Employed
17 and below 18 19 20 21 22-25 25-30 over 30
% of these using Staff Canteen for lunch 100 82 83 83 77 69 64 58
3 17 12 6 9 16 14 34
Notes on Interviews with other Department Heads 1
Head of Finance Department Yes, we do have a lot of younger staff. It would be very useful if they had somewhere to go at lunch time. Some come back to the office now and disrupt the others who are working. I wouldn’t be against shortening the lunch hour until flexi-time comes in. Of course, if we found somewhere to use as a recreation room, we couldn’t afford to spend much on it, could we?
2
Head of Administration Department I’m not so sure about shortening the lunch hour. A lot of the older staff would oppose this. But a recreation room - yes, good idea. We have got all those old chairs from the Meetings Room in store - we could use them.
3
Head of Marketing We don’t have too many young people in my section. Some of those from the other offices sit outside our rooms at lunch time and they can be noisy - so an indoor room would be great.
4
Head of Sales and Purchasing I think our staff need a break at lunch time. You need to get away from things and a rest room is a good idea. I’m not happy about shortening lunch times. Some of the staff who go home or go to town have now got further to go.
Notes on Interview with Health and Safety Officer If we provide a room we would have to take reasonable steps to make it safe, but unless there are particular hazards, we should not have many problems. There is the smoking issue, of course. We are a no-smoking building, so we might have difficulties if we allow smoking in any rest room.
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QUESTION 2 CONTINUED Possible locations Map of site Option 1
Staff Canteen
BLOCK A
Car Park
Grounds
Option 2
BLOCK C
BLOCK B
Option 3
Option 1 (former Sports Pavilion) • • • • • • •
Largest of rooms available In need of decoration Away from main offices Currently used as records store Long walk to it through grounds No telephone link Other services provided (water, electricity, heating)
Option 2 (former Finance Records Store (Ground floor, Block A) • • • • • •
No longer used - not in good decorative order In same block as canteen Close to main entrance and car park Good services provided (gas, water, electricity, telephone, heating) Close to many offices now used - poor sound insulation Smallest of possible rooms
Option 3 (former Conference Room (Top floor, Block C)) • • • • •
Well away from most offices used Medium sized room Some distance for staff to travel Provided with all services (gas, water, electricity, telephone, heating) Good decorative order
Task Write the report for Ms Too, as requested, and make any appropriate recommendations. (25 marks)
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Model Answer to Question 2 To: From: Date: Subject:
Ms Karen Too, Head of Human Resources Department A Candidate 28 November 2000 Investigation of staff lunchtime activities
Introduction The Chair of the Staff Association has requested that we investigate the difficulties that some of the staff are facing at lunchtime after the move to the new offices. I have investigated the problem and taken into account the issues raised, the views of the Heads of Departments and other staff and the possibilities for improvement, and I have made the following recommendations. Findings (i)
The problem The issue concerns the lack of a restroom or recreation room for staff who remain on the premises at lunchtime. They are unable to remain in the canteen, they do not wish to remain outside during inclement weather and they do not wish to return to their offices during the lunch period.
(ii)
Staff involved Of the 111 staff, 47 are now aged 21 or under and 30 are aged between 22 and 30. Such young people tend to remain on the premises at lunchtime, with between 83% and 100% of each year group using the staff canteen facilities at lunchtime, as opposed to 58% of staff over 30.
(iii) Senior staff response Senior staff generally welcomed the idea of rest room or recreational facilities being provided to resolve the problem. This would reduce the number of younger staff congregating in the grounds at lunchtime and prevent staff from returning to their offices too early and causing a distraction. (iv) Shorter lunchtimes One possibility would be to reduce the lunch hour, but this is not a popular idea with senior staff and it would cause difficulties for those who wish to spend time away from the premises at lunchtime. (v) Possible locations of a recreation room Option A (former sports pavilion) - This is a large room but it is some distance from the main buildings and it is in need of redecoration. There is currently no telephone link. Option B (former Records store – ground floor, Block A) - This is a small size room, with full services, but it is close to other offices and it has poor sound insulation. Option C (former Conference Room – top floor, Block C) - This is a medium sized room, in good decorative order with full services. It is not centrally located. Recommendations •
• • •
The company should convert the former Conference Room into a recreation room for staff. The room is in good decorative order and is fully equipped with all services. The room could be converted for recreational purposes for little additional cost. The chairs from the old meetings room currently in store could be used. Although the room is in Block C and is not as accessible, staff using this room are less likely to disrupt the work going on elsewhere. The company should seek advice on any health and safety issues in using this room. The room should be a non-smoking area as this policy is carried out in the rest of the building. The lunch break should remain as one hour, until the new flexible hours system is introduced.
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Examiner’s Report on Question 2 Candidates must realise that there is no one very specific report format to be used on all occasions. There are a number of ways of producing a report and as long as information is carefully selected and grouped into sections with ease of reference, the particular form of layout used is not important. However, some styles were not appropriate on this occasion. For example, this is not a report to lend itself to a ‘case for – case against format’ as it is not a report to decide between two alternatives. Better reports were concise and summarised the key issues before arriving at a sensible conclusion. Candidates must not assume that readers of the report will also have read the question! Thus, ‘Option 1’ out of context would be meaningless to the reader, unless this phrase was explained.
Helpful Hints on Question 2 • • •
Before anything is written, use your summarising skills to extract the salient points Use any appropriate style that makes use of headings and sub-headings to summarise the main points Refer to any full statistical data collected as in an appendix as real reports make great use of these.
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QUESTION 3 Situation You are employed by Comco International, a major multi-national company with a wide range of interests and subsidiary companies. The management of Comco are now contemplating diversifying into other areas and there is a possibility that Comco might enter the merchant shipping industry by taking over an existing shipping company. As Comco has not had any experience of this area of work, you have been asked to investigate the current international position of this industry, then to discuss this informally with the Board of Directors. You have been given a number of questions and asked to prepare brief answers. These questions can be answered from the following information which you have gathered from a variety of sources. International Shipping Worldwide Annual Cargo Shipped (5.5 billion tonnes) Containers 9% Coal 8%
Crude Oil 30%
Iron Ore 8%
Grain 4% Liquid Petroleum 2%
Oil Products 10%
General (timber, sugar, rice, steel, agricultural products etc) 29%
Worldwide ship-owning nations (% of world fleet by tonnage) Taiwan 3%
Singapore 2%
Hong Kong 3.2% South Korea 3.5% Germany 3.6% Others 34.7%
China 5%
USA 6%
Norway 8%
Japan 13%
Greece 18%
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QUESTION 3 CONTINUED From an International Guide to the Industry The strength of the worldwide shipping industry reflects the general economic health of the nations of the world. When the world enjoys prosperity, goods flow freely between countries and merchant shipping is a beneficiary of this trade. In times of international difficulties or conflict, the volume of international trade can decline substantially within weeks. In recent years the international industry has had a turnover of between 60 and 70 billion US dollars. Moving goods by ship between nations has been the major means of trade for thousands of years; this mode of transport was adopted by the Phoenicians and it was later exploited by all the great imperial and trading nations. Significantly, it has not been superseded by other means of moving goods. Air transport can make a limited contribution to international trade but it is never likely to take over the transportation of goods in the way it has taken over passenger transportation from ships because of the limited size and scope of aircraft. As the worldwide road network improves, more goods are likely to be transported by land, but there are many difficulties here, not least the fact that at any time many areas and countries are not safe for international travel due to climate, geography or conflict. With the advent of containerisation, goods can be moved quickly by land to the ports where the international journey can be made by sea. In the United Kingdom and Japan, 95% of imported goods arrive by sea and even for those countries with more substantial land boundaries, such as Germany or China, the majority of their goods arrive at their ports. The sea remains the most reliable medium of transportation, particularly as there is virtually no limit on the size of ships that can be built. The largest moving man-made object on earth is the Norwegian supertanker Jahre Viking which carries more than half a million tonnes of crude oil. The busiest trade is now shipping coal and iron ore from South America, South Africa and Australia to Asia, Europe and North America; oil from the Middle East, the North Sea and the Americas all over the world; and grain from North America to Asia. The worldwide industry continues to be dominated by traditional sea-faring nations such as Norway, Denmark and Greece, and others that have built up fleets in more recent times such as Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan. However, there has been a movement to register this shipping in countries where registration is cheaper and more loosely regulated. This is known as flying a flag of convenience. Although the United Kingdom is no longer a major maritime nation (before 1914 its merchant ships comprised 60% of the world fleet), London is still the leading centre for insurance, underwriting, chartering, surveying and classification. Singapore and New York have built up support and administrative services but London remains as the centre where contracts are drawn up, disputes are resolved and insurance is arranged. Flags of the world fleet (% of shipping registrations) Panama Liberia Greece Bahamas Malta Cyprus Singapore Norway China Japan Others
20% 13% 6% 5.3% 5.2% 4.8% 4.3% 4% 2.9% 2.6% 31.9%
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QUESTION 3 CONTINUED Task Answer the following questions, in your own words as far as possible, to show understanding of the information given.
1
How recent is the development of world trade by sea? (2 marks)
2
3
4
What is the connection between a flourishing international shipping industry and worldwide prosperity in general? (3 marks) What are the major competitors to shipping as a means of transporting goods internationally and what are their limitations? (5 marks) What is meant by the term flying a flag of convenience? (2 marks)
5
Briefly, compare the figures for the worldwide ship-owning nations, with those for the worldwide registrations of shipping. (5 marks)
6
Identify the origin and destination of the most common sea-borne cargoes. (5 marks)
7
What is the major contribution of the United Kingdom to the worldwide shipping industry? (3 marks) (Total 25 marks)
Model Answer to Question 3 1
Trade has taken place by sea for thousands of years, since the days of the ancient Phoenicians.
2
When the world is enjoying general prosperity, this leads to a ‘boom’ in merchant shipping as there will be a high volume of international trade. Problems with the world economy can lead to a rapid decline in international maritime trade.
3
As well as by sea, goods can be transported by air or land. Air-borne trade can have only limited potential because of the technical limitations of aircraft, which can never reach the same size as ships. Land based trade has more potential but few trading nations have only land links with trading partners and road transport is always going to be affected by the vagaries of the weather, terrain and war or conflict.
4
Companies often choose to register their shipping in a country where the registration is cheaper and where fewer restrictions are imposed on registration. This is called ‘flying a flag of convenience’.
5
Of the major ship-owing countries, only a small proportion of shipping is registered in the home country. For example, Greece owns 18% of the international fleet but only 6% of worldwide shipping is registered in Greece, and for Japan the figures are 13% and 2.6%. In contrast, neither Panama nor Liberia which register a third of international shipping between them, are amongst the top ten ship-owning nations.
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Model Answer to Question 3 continued 6
Crude Oil (30%) – mainly from the Middle East, North Sea and Americas to all over the world. Coal (8%) and Iron Ore (8%) – mainly from South America, South Africa and Australia to Asia, Europe and North America. Grain (4%) – mainly from North America to Asia.
7
The United Kingdom, mainly London, is the leading centre for the arrangement of maritime support services such as contract production, insurance and legal services.
Examiner’s Report on Question 3 This question posed most difficulties for those with a weaker command of English. It is never sufficient to ‘lift’ a section of the original material as invariably some selection and interpretation is needed. A number of candidates ignored the ‘hint’ that the mark allocation for each part reflects the level of difficulty and usually the length of answer required. Part 1, for example, carried 2 marks and required no more than a brief statement that sea trade has existed for thousands of years. However, Parts 3, 5 and 6 carried 5 marks each and required greater development.
Helpful Hints on Question 3 • •
Pay close attention to the marks allocation as a guide to the length and depth of your response to the question Read and ensure you have understood all the material before answering the question concisely in your own words.
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QUESTION 4 Situation You work for Nutrico International, a major provider of processed food to the international market. From its base in your home area, Nutrico supplies a vast range of prepared and packaged foods to customers in various parts of the world. The company has a number of branches in different countries. It is well known that the company has faced financial problems recently and all employees are aware that attempts are being made to cut costs and make savings. This morning, you attended a meeting with the company’s Finance Manager, Ms Shahin Rizva and Mr David Blanc, a representative of a local organisation, Business Link. Ms Rizva introduces Mr Blanc to you and says the following: “As you know, I’ve been looking at the figures for the amount of money we are spending on staff travel, particularly abroad, and quite honestly we just can’t afford to keep it up. I know how important it is for us to remain in contact with customers and clients but we’ve got to consider ways of cutting down on our expenses and I think we might have the solution to some of our problems. Can I introduce David Blanc, who is a specialist in teleconferencing? His organisation, Business Link, has developed video-conferencing to a fine art, and we should be able to use this form of communication much more than we do. David, would you like to say something about this?” Mr Blanc says the following: “I know this might not be a popular thing to say, as you and your colleagues probably enjoy the trips abroad, but I don’t think people realise just how much video-conferencing is used nowadays. We have studios in this area and we can link up with anywhere in the world. You can see and speak to people without leaving town. And don’t worry about technical problems; we’ve got most of these solved and we’ve reached the stage that 99% of our conferences go without a hitch. We use something called ISDN6 which offers images on the screen that are of TV quality but it costs 6 times the price of a phone call. We can offer ISDN2 for short conferences - the images are not perfect, but it is only twice the cost of a phone call. Our studios are open 24 hours a day so you can link up to any local time. The pictures and sound are transmitted instantaneously, and we can record the conferences if necessary. And we can use fax facilities to transmit documents during the conference. We can even provide an instantaneous translation service if required.” Ms Rizva then adds: “We must use the system much more in future. Not only is it much cheaper but staff then don’t have to waste time travelling and they won’t have to worry about being jet-lagged or forgetting important documents. “I’ve spoken to our Departmental Managers and they’ve agreed that they will now examine any requests for long distance travel from staff in future and they will only accept them if video-conferencing can’t be used. We have to accept that sometimes there won’t be the facilities at the other end and there will be occasions when someone has to appear in person. But David has agreed to hold a training session for all of our staff on Tuesday 12 December at Business Link, so that should reassure them. “Please draft a memo to all staff to tell them what they now have to do if they are thinking of arranging an overseas trip, or even a long distance trip in this country. Tell them about video-conferencing and stress the positive side of all of this, please.” Task Draft the memo to go to all staff, following Ms Rizva’s instructions. (25 marks)
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Model Answer to Question 4 MEMORANDUM To: From: Date: Subject:
All Staff A Candidate 28 November 2000 Video-conferencing
Although it is accepted that staff from our company must continue to retain strong links with our customers, clients and suppliers all over the world, the company is looking at ways of reducing the escalating cost of supporting long distance trips whilst retaining these invaluable links. One avenue that has been explored is the use of video-conferencing as opposed to appearing in person at meetings. Staff might not be aware that the use of video-conferencing is now widespread and many of the organisations and individuals that we work with use it extensively. Video-conferencing involves those taking part in a meeting appearing on video screens. They can speak to people anywhere in the world without leaving a local studio. This is not only much cheaper than making expensive foreign trips but it eliminates travel time and other such disadvantages as ‘jet-lag’ on long distance trips. I am pleased to say that we will work with a local organisation, Business Link, that has excellent video-conferencing facilities and great experience of operating in this area. They can provide all of the technical support required and advise us on the most appropriate systems to use, balancing cost and quality of image. They can provide a 24 hour service, a complementary fax service and even instantaneous translation should language be an issue. As video-conferencing provides so many advantages, it has been decided by the company management that this will be the main medium of communications between ourselves and our long distance partners. If you feel that special circumstances demand that you should make a long distance trip you should seek the permission of your Department Manager who will grant this only when video-conferencing is not the most appropriate system. I am sure you will accept the whole range of advantages that video-conferencing brings to the company and that you will wish to know more about it. Business Link has agreed to organise a training session for our staff on Tuesday 12 December. If you are able to attend this session, please notify your Departmental Manager as soon as possible.
Examiner’s Report on Question 4 This question provoked a mixed response. Better candidates realised that the task was not simply to repeat the information but that it was important to reassure staff and persuade them of the benefits of video-conferencing. A small number of candidates did not use a memo format, and some missed vital pieces of information, such as the date and time of the forthcoming meeting.
Helpful Hints on Question 4 • •
Remember that this is a reformulation question; information must be converted from one form to a more appropriate format You will be given clear instructions on the purpose of the memo. Use this and do not simply repeat the information given.
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Education Development International plc
The Old School Holly Walk Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 4GL United Kingdom Customer Service: +44 (0) 8707 202 909 Fax: +44 (0) 1926 887676 Email:
[email protected]
