- •2) What is the major concern in international trade and how to deal with it?
- •3) What are the main barriers to trade?
- •4) Why do many countries protect their industries?
- •13) How do companies deal with different ethical issues?
- •16) What makes a great (bad) leader?
- •17) In what ways can successful leaders win the respect of subordinates and exercise authority over them?
- •18) Are there differences between men and women as leaders?
- •19) What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
- •Innovation 21) What is the role of innovation in business? 22) What is the difference between creativity and innovation?
16) What makes a great (bad) leader?
In my opinion great leader must:
have good understanding of the market
have a good product knowledge
have a good personal image
be a good administrator or organizer
have the ability to motivate people
know when to delegate and when to refer a higher level
be a good team member
be able to take risks
have the ability to make difficult decisions under pressure
have good lines of communication with other staff
keep up-to-date by trading and reading
be sociable, cooperative, discreet, strong, diplomatic.
17) In what ways can successful leaders win the respect of subordinates and exercise authority over them?
18) Are there differences between men and women as leaders?
1.Women managers receive less payments than men for doing the same job.
2.Women managers often hit a “glass ceiling” – an invisible barrier on the career ladder beyond which they cannot pass.
3. There is a “feminine management style”. It has emphasis on communication, networking, collecting ideas from others, cooperation and participation, sharing power and information.
4.There is also a “masculine management style”. It has emphasis on rewards, clearly defined tasks, command and control structures.
19) What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
Some may think that a manager and leader are the same, but they are not necessarily identical. An effective manager wiil have leadership qualities and “manager” will be only one aspect of a leader. A leader possesses a natural set of talents that inspire people to follow, to be loyal , a person who rules, guides and inspires others. And manager is a person responsible for planning and directing the work of a group of individuals, monitoring their work and correct when necessary.
20) Should employees be involved in choosing their leaders? If you agree, say what the benefits would be. If you disagree, say why such an idea wouldn’t work.
Innovation 21) What is the role of innovation in business? 22) What is the difference between creativity and innovation?
Creativity and innovation are not synonyms. Creativity refers to the generation of novel ideas, innovation to their successful implementation. Creativity is the discovery of principle, and innovation is the translation of principle into useful products and services. The innovation process results in the transformation of ideas in tangible products or services that will generate new earnings for a company. Innovation results from a conscious purposeful search for innovation opportunities, which may be outcomes of incongruities, process needs, industry and market changes and new knowledge. 23) Do you agree that small business has more advantages over big business in innovative process?
Small business always extends the frontiers of knowledge and produces twice as many innovations per employee at large firms. These innovations are the source of new jobs and new opportunities for entrepreneurs. Small businesses invented the PC, photocopying machine, etc. Most studies show that size adds little to research intensity. For example General Electric has credited small businesses with many of its products ideas, including the invention of electric toasters, refrigerators, dishwashers. Big business seldom suppress inventions and innovations. But they also cannot put every invention straight into production just because it outdoors current product. They must wait new products are so superior than a changeover can be made without a steep rise in price. 24) What stages does a new product (or service) go through before launching?
1)Brainstorming-involves looking for product and service innovations that enable the business to achieve higher margins, their profits to reinvest in business and to endure sustainable competitive advantage.
2)Screening and measurement. During screening that companies consider whether they have financial resources and required skills and abilities to develop and market a product or service. A great amount of innovative ideas are rejected during the screening and measurement stage.
3) Concept testing is a phase in which a small group of potential buyers is presented with a product idea through a written or oral description to determine their attitudes and initial buying intentions regarding the product.
4)Business analysis provides a tentative outline of a products position in the marketplace, including its probable profitability. During this stage the firm considers how the new product, if it were introduced, would affect the firms sales, costs and profits.
5) Product development. In this phase, the company must find out first if it’s technically feasible to produce the product and then if the product can be made at costs low enough to justify a reasonable price.
6)Test marketing. It’s aim is to determine buyer’s probable reactions. The product is left in the test markets long enough to give buyers a chance to repurchase the product if they r so inclined.
7)Commercialization. During this phase plans for full-scale manufacturing and marketing must be refined and completed and budgets for the project must be prepared.
25) How do you think new technologies will change the way we work in the future? Competition 26) What strategies do companies use to gain a competitive advantage? (Michael Porter’s model of competitors’ types) 27) Does it pay to be competitive in the workplace? Why/Why not? 28) How does competition affect business? 29) What are the biggest competitive threats to companies? 30) What is the character of competition in Russia?