【每日阅读训练第四期——速度越障18系列】【18-14】经管

风随心动01

    大家好，周三经管来了。
    昨天把整理好的文章落在了公司里，只好早上才发出来，以后一定不会这样了TOT
    今天的Time 1和Time 2是一篇文章，Time 3和Time 4是一篇文章。另外，今天的越障是一个Business Case Study，希望大家喜欢。
    做个调查啊，大家觉得今天文章的难度怎么样啊，如果觉得难的话是难在哪里，单词还是背景？还有文章长度觉得怎么样？请大家再发帖的时候顺便把你们的评价写上啊，我根据大家的意见去找下一期的文章，再次表示感谢~
PS：最近猴哥都没粗线，不过还是。。。队形的走起

Article 1 (Check the title later)
China Becomes World's most Important Auto Market
[Time 1]
   China is strengthening its image as the most important market for the auto industry. Chinese auto sales are up 13 percent from one year ago. Industry observers are predicting total sales of over 20 million vehicles this year.
   By comparison, a little more than 15 million vehicles are expected to be sold in the United States. The importance of the Chinese market could be seen last month at the Shanghai auto show, industry representatives there were showing products design to meet China's growing demand for luxury cars, and larger vehicles.
   Dave Schoch is with Ford Motor company. He welcomed the chance to meet with thousands of possible car buyers.
   "So you've got 30 million customers out there, all with different tastes and different affordability levels. And what Ford wants to do is bring the power and leverage of our global line-up, you know from small to medium to large, into China."
   However, competition can be fierce. Dieter Zetsche is the chairman of the German Auto manufacturer Daimler AG.
   "We are increasing our local content here in this country. And next month we are opening the first engine plant with the capacity of 250,000 units outside of Germany for Mercedes engines."
   Many Chinese see cars as a sign of success. Yale Zhang is with automotive foresight -- an industry group. He says the rising demand for top quality automobiles is a sign of China's rise as an economic superpower.
   "This market is becoming more like European or American style." Demand has been especially high for larger sport utility vehicles (SUV's).   
[259 words]

[Time 2]
   Karsten Engel is head of the BMW group in China. He says the spaces insides of SUV's appeal to the newly rich, although some will probably never drive them.
   "The ultimate driving machine, you probably experience a lot from the rear seat with your driver, so you need more space, you want more space. You want to have the possibility to work in the car."
   That's something Stefan Brungs understands. He is the marketing director for the automaker Bugatti's.
   "This is what the Chinese have learned and perceived as luxury -- to sit in the back and be chauffeured."
   The demand for larger cars is strong, yet environmental issues and fuel concerns are leading to increased interest in vehicles with better fuel economy.
   Nissan's Asia Vice President Andy Palmer: "Four years ago, when we introduced the concept of the electric car, most of our colleagues in the industry thought that we had lost our minds. Now it doesn't look so stupid, you know?"
   For now, observers say new hybrid and electric technology is not a major force in the Chinese market. New information shows sales of SUV's are up nearly 50 percent from a year ago, and experts says SUV sales are  likely to double by 2015.
   And that's the Economics Report, I'm Christopher Cruise.   
[215 words]
Source：http://www.51voa.com/VOA_Special_English/China-Becomes-World-s-most-Important-Auto-Market-49648.html

Article 2 (Check the title later)
Tax in cyberspace:Online retailers may soon have to collect sales tax. Amazon, oddly, is gloating
[Time 3]
   AMAZON, which became America’s biggest internet retailer by selling things more cheaply than anyone else, used to go to great lengths to avoid collecting sales tax from its customers. It issued a map showing employees which states to avoid lest they give the authorities a target for enforcement (some of the biggest states were coded red). In 2011 it shut down a warehouse in Texas after the state’s government demanded $270m in back taxes.
   The taxmen are now catching up. On May 6th the Senate is expected to approve a bill requiring internet merchants to collect sales tax due in other states. The House of Representatives may follow. Politicians are heeding howls from bricks-and-mortar retailers that current law gives Amazon and its kind an unfair advantage. State governments reckon that tax avoidance by online retailers costs them roughly $11 billion a year. If the Marketplace Fairness Act passes, states will get some extra cash. Yet Amazon is unruffled.
   The Seattle-based super-merchant is already collecting tax in some big states, including California, Pennsylvania and Texas, and is no longer fighting a national regime. Best Buy, an electronics retailer that has suffered much from Amazon’s onslaught, says its sales rose by 4-6% in states where Amazon started collecting tax. But there will be no let-up for old-school retailers. “Closing the loophole won’t level the playing field,” says Sucharita Mulpuru of Forrester, a research firm. Amazon’s retreat on taxes signals a redoubling of its logistics offensive, thumping rivals even harder.
   When it comes to putting goods into shoppers’ impatient hands, traditional retailers still have an edge. Customers of Walmart, America’s biggest retailer, can order online and pick up purchases in stores. Macy’s, a department-store chain, plans to fulfil online orders from 500 shops (rather than warehouses) this year, which will let it offer same-day delivery to customers’ homes. But Amazon is catching up. In ten American cities it offers same-day delivery on some items. Lockers in convenience stores let customers pick up Amazon packages rather than waiting for them at home.
[338 words]

[Time 4]
   In its early days, when price trumped speed, Amazon built huge warehouses far from most customers (and tax collectors). Now that it has caved in on tax “it can optimise distribution logistics completely,” says Ken Sena of Evercore, an investment bank. The idea is to build automated distribution hubs closer to population centres, making same-day delivery commonplace. Amazon’s plans for the next two years include warehouses in California, Texas and New Jersey, according to MWPVL, a logistics consultancy. With 40-50 “fulfillment centres”, it can conquer the country, says Marc Wulfraat of MWPVL.
   As service improves and market share grows, Amazon’s fixed costs per order should drop. It is widely expected to acquire its own fleet of delivery trucks, bringing it into direct competition with firms that now carry parcels on its behalf, such as FedEx and UPS.
   Not all e-tailers are so upbeat. Blue Nile, which sells diamonds, says in its annual report that having to collect tax could “substantially harm our business”. EBay, Amazon’s smaller rival, feels vulnerable. Like Amazon, it is a platform for other merchants, but its partners are smaller than Amazon’s, says Mr Sena. Small firms will find it hard to comply with America’s myriad local rules. The Tax Foundation, a think-tank, counts 9,646 separate American jurisdictions that levy sales tax.
   EBay has blasted out e-mails to customers and merchants urging resistance. Forcing retailers to collect tax from customers will make it “harder for small businesses to grow into big businesses,” says Brian Bieron, the company’s top lobbyist. Mr Sena thinks the blow to eBay itself will be modest. It’s good to be an incumbent.
[269 words]
Source: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21577071-online-retailers-may-soon-have-collect-sales-tax-amazon-oddly-gloating-tax

Article 3 (Check the title later)
Entrepreneurs in America:Who creates jobs? Immigrants do
[Time 5]
   SHAYAN ZADEH, the co-founder of Zoosk, a popular online-dating service based in San Francisco, is worried. In the current debate on immigration, few realise that foreign-born entrepreneurs create jobs for locals. “It’s a real public-relations problem,” bemoans Mr Zadeh, who came to the country as a student from Iran and worked at Microsoft before establishing his own firm, which now employs almost 150 people.
   On May 2nd Innovate for America, the new brainchild of Scott Sandell, a venture capitalist, launched a plan to get American firms with at least one immigrant founder to publicise the number of people they have hired in America. Some 40 companies, including Zoosk, BloomReach, a start-up that analyses data to help firms maximise online revenues, and QBotix, a robot-maker, have already signed up.
   At innovateforamerica.org, companies can submit the number of jobs they have added since their launch. They can also show support for the group’s aims by downloading a widget, or tiny piece of portable code. Once installed, this displays an icon on their websites showing the total number of jobs the group’s members have collectively created in America. The figure will be updated as new firms join and existing ones add workers. Mr Sandell says he is talking to auditors about verifying the data regularly to ensure they are robust.
   To get the initiative off the ground, he and his colleagues have recruited smallish firms, many of which they have invested in. That explains why the total number of jobs showcased on the widget at launch is a mere 3,700 or so. But they are hoping many other start-ups—and behemoths with at least one foreign-born founder, such as Google and Yahoo—will sign up too, quickly boosting the total number.
   Their site urges immigrant entrepreneurs to post their personal stories. It also asks those who were refused visas to highlight the number of jobs they have gone on to create elsewhere.
   Innovate for America may initially attract less attention than FWD.us, a pressure group recently launched by Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Facebook, and other prominent Silicon Valley types to lobby on immigration and other issues. But if its widget spreads, it could invigorate a debate that is vital to America’s future prosperity.
[371 words]
Source: http://www.ecocn.org/thread-186334-1-1.html


[Obstacle]
Article 5 (Check the title later)
Case Study: How to Integrate an Acquired Brand
   Henry Beyer walked up to a Mini Cooper in the city parking lot across the street from his office in downtown Houston. He waved his brand-new VillageCar card near the door handle and got in.
   "It looks like someone left something behind," his colleague Tony Cummins said, reaching into the back and picking up a pair of socks. He laughed; Henry grimaced.
   The two were executives of Beacon Car Rental, one of the industry's most established and respected brands. Henry was the senior vice president of operations. Tony, the chief marketing officer, had suggested taking a drive so that they could talk about the integration of Beacon's latest acquisition, VillageCar. He knew Henry would be making the call on how to bring in the car-sharing company, and he wanted to bend his ear about it.
   (Editor's Note: This fictionalized case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, along with commentary from experts and readers. If you'd like your comment to be considered for publication, please be sure to include your full name, company or university affiliation, and email address.)
   "Have you ever been in one of these things? We barely fit," Henry said, looking at the roof just an inch or two above his head. Both men were more than six feet tall.
   Tony admitted that the car was a strange place to meet. "But I wanted to talk with you," he explained. For the past five years, Henry had led the integration of all Beacon's acquisitions, and he had the process down to a science. BusinessWeek had featured the firm in an article about companies that take speedy approaches to M&A while remaining sensitive to the human costs.
  "This one is going to take a little more time than usual," Henry said, "but I assured Mark this morning that we'd get it done, like we always have." Mark Lewis was the CEO.
  "Still, I don't want us to lose sight of what a game changer this acquisition is," Tony said. Henry rolled his eyes.
  "Let's not overstate it," he replied. They'd been having the same conversation for months.
  "It can't be overstated," Tony said. "Think about it: We're not in a rental car, we're in a shared car."
  "Rental, shared. Same difference." As they turned onto Fannin Street, just a few blocks from their office, Henry pointed out another VillageCar, and then another. Instead of sitting in rental car lots, they were parked in dedicated spots in public areas, for easy access. One was a Prius, the other a Nissan pick-up truck.
  "We'll be able to tap into a big demographic that dreads being seen in a Crown Victoria from Beacon — or in anything from Beacon. These are people who get dewy-eyed about sharing," Tony said. "When they get a VillageCar, they're making a statement that they want to access things, not buy them. It's anti-consumerism, pro-environment, pro-community — everything Gen Y loves."
  "I know I'm an ops guy and you're the marketing guru, but I don't buy it," Henry said. "The experience just doesn't feel special to me. Apart from the empty gas tank and the socks, which are hardly a plus, this seems exactly like a rental. Why should the VillageCar deal be any different from Starr?" Last year Beacon had acquired a smaller rental car chain that had hundreds of locations in the Southwest.
   Tony shook his head. "You know I think we mishandled Starr. It was clear the brand had cachet in the region, which we could've leveraged. But we ended up integrating it to death. If we treat VillageCar the same way, we're going to lose all the potential benefits, which are even greater in this case."
   "We've gone over this already," Henry said. "The goal should be to use our scale, capabilities, resources — everything we've got — to bring VillageCar in and make it more profitable. It's going to benefit from our fleet purchasing power. And its in-town spaces will help us build our presence in urban areas, not to mention giving us access to a younger customer base."
   "But this is our opportunity to get in on a trend," Tony said, rapping gently on the dashboard. "More and more people are opting out of owning; they're willing to pay to temporarily access something. It's not just car sharing. It's music sharing, bike sharing, apartment sharing, designer clothing sharing, dog sharing. Even dogs, Henry! That Forbes cover story estimated that the share economy will be a $3.5 billion category this year. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The best path forward is to keep VillageCar separate — the operations, the branding, everything."
   "Come on; we both know the costs of that," Henry said. "Mark would balk at the inefficiencies." The CEO was known for running a tight ship. "And we haven't seen any evidence that VillageCar's model is a radical departure from ours or that its customers behave differently. Sure, there are things about the model we should adopt — shorter rentals, more-convenient locations. Fine. But when it comes to cars, 'sharing' is just a fancy word for 'rental'. The only thing customers are sharing is the crap they leave in the back seat."
[872 words]


[The rest]
A Third Opinion
   Later that afternoon Annabel Howard, Beacon's CFO and Henry's boss, leaned back in her chair. "I'm hardly ever the tiebreaker," she said.
   "We don't want you to settle anything. We just need another opinion," Henry told her. He and Tony replayed their debate.
   "What's the big deal? Clearly a full integration is the most cost-effective approach. We'll get rid of the overlaps, maximize the complements, and be done with it," Annabel said. "I have no interest in creating an unwieldy bureaucracy. Managing multiple brands, running separate IT systems, setting different price structures — it would be a mess."
   Henry smiled at Tony, gloating a little.
   "But this is different," Tony countered. "VillageCar isn't like Starr or any of the others. Starr was a straight-up rental car company, same business model as ours. It gave us access to a new market. I thought there was some marketing benefit to retaining the brand, but you all disagreed, and I lived with it. This is a much bigger opportunity."
   He leaned across the desk. "Think about it from a risk management perspective, Annabel. This may be just what we need." Their industry was struggling. The basic business model hadn't changed in 30 years, and Beacon, like all the other major players, was forced to compete on price alone. Annabel had been saying that this was a major risk and would eventually turn car rentals into a commodity, with no way to win.
   "Hmm — hadn't quite thought about it that way," she said.
   Now that he had her attention, Tony kept going: "Maybe we need to go out with VillageCar in front. We don't want to miss the boat, like Kodak did with digital photography. Maybe it's time to shake things up." He told her he'd been at the VillageCar headquarters the previous week with Mark. "The energy there is great. We need some of that: the start-up feeling that anything's possible, that we can change the world. I worry that if we gobble the company up and treat it like a business unit, we won't innovate on our existing model."
   The three of them were silent for a moment. Then Henry spoke: "We'd be adding costs instead of taking them out.
   "That's true," Annabel said. "But maybe the costs of not doing it would be even bigger."
Customer Research
   A week later Henry hurried down the hall to Tony's office. He knocked but then quickly opened the door without waiting for a response.
   Tony swung around in his chair. "What's the emergency?"
   "Remember what I said about sharing being hype?" He set a research paper down on Tony's desk.
   Tony stared at the title and abstract, trying to decipher the academic language.
   "Bottom line," Henry said, "This is a study of car-sharing customers. Of all the things they value about their experience, the biggest one is access. The environment and community aren't even on their radar. They care about affordability and convenience, just like Beacon's customers do."
   Tony up picked the paper and stared again at the abstract, and then shrugged.
   "Take my word for it," Henry said impatiently. "I've been studying this for the past hour. And it's pretty clear: We need a clean, straightforward integration, like I said. We get VillageCar's customers, we can adopt its shorter rental model, we take over its locations, but ultimately we give those customers what they want: good prices and convenience. And no socks in the back seat."
   "And the name? We're going to kill 'VillageCar'?" Tony asked. "No one over there is going to like that. They agreed to the acquisition assuming we'd keep their brand intact."
   "But we didn't make any promises. I say no separate brands." Henry argued that two brands would be too complicated for customers; they wouldn't know which company they were dealing with.
   "That's not necessarily true," Tony said. "Look at Toyota and Lexus: two different brands, two entirely separate consumer groups. Yet everyone knows they're the same company. Besides, if we merge the brands, we alienate the VillageCar customer base. It's growing every day, and we don't want to lose those people. Their loyalty is fanatical. They'll revolt, and VillageCar's employees might join them. They don't call themselves 'villagers' for nothing."
   "'Villagers' — hah," Henry said. "Maybe that's what VillageCar's marketers call them, but I doubt customers call themselves that. This study shows that the emotional connection is a sham. VillageCar's not about community. It's about finding the most convenient, economical way of getting from point A to point B."
   "If that's true, why are our customer bases so different?" Tony asked. "Why is everyone in the world talking about the share economy? Why is that market ballooning?"
Nice Wheels
   The next afternoon Henry had already ordered when his son Kyle showed up at Jasper's restaurant.
   "Sorry I'm late," Kyle said. "My marketing professor wouldn't stop talking." He was studying business at the University of Houston. They tried to meet for lunch once a week. This was their favorite spot, because it had outside tables and an amazing burger.
   Henry asked Kyle if he was liking the class. "Yeah, it's interesting stuff — how to make people want things they shouldn't," Kyle replied.
   Henry laughed. "Is that what you're taking away from it.
   "More or less. Wait, that isn't your car, is it?" Kyle asked, pointing to the Audi A3 parked in the spot right out front that Henry always took.
   "It is today."
   "Nice wheels," his son said. "Did Mom really let you buy that?"
  "No way. I'm renting it. Or accessing it — I'm not sure what to call it. It's from this company we just acquired," Henry said.
  "You told me about that last time. VillageCar, right? I've seen a few of those on campus."
   Henry explained that he was on the hook to decide about the integration. "Everyone's talking about how your generation is different, how sharing is the wave of the future. But it seems like just a fad to me."
   "Well, I'm not sure how to integrate companies. But I do know something about my generation, and we're definitely not like you," Kyle said. Henry rolled his eyes at the familiar refrain. "I'm not being a pain, Dad. I'm trying to help. Listen, I'm not into buying things. I just want to use things when I need them. I remember you told me how proud you were when you and Mom bought your first car--that Subaru--right after you got married. You remember everything about it--the smell, the salesman's name, where you drove first. But I don't really care about stuff like that. I don't want to own lots of things. You've got a wall of CDs; I have this," he said, holding up his iPhone.
   Henry listened intently. Kyle had a point. If Beacon took its typical approach, it risked losing a whole generation of consumers like Kyle.
  "Owning things weighs you down," Kyle continued. "Forces you to commit. Look, today you have an Audi. Tomorrow you can have a van and go to Home Depot. You can try different things out."
   Henry watched his son take a bite of his burger. He was amazed that his kid — he still thought of him as a little boy — was starting to sway him.
   "It's a marketers dream, isn't it?" Henry said grudgingly. "Telling customers that your product lets them change their identity by the hour." It was an appealing prospect now that Henry looked at it from this angle. Going out to customers with a message like that could transform the problems that had been plaguing rentals for years. But he knew his decision couldn't be all about marketing. He had to consider the efficiencies, too.
   "I don't know much about marketing yet," Kyle said. "But help me sound smart in class. What are you going to tell the CEO?"
[1309 words]
Source：http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/05/case_study_do_customers_want_c.html

风随心动01

杀G给猴看 发表于 2013-5-9 09:17
哟呵！正好赶上！果断占座座~~~~~~~

小杀占沙发，多顺口，来得早不如来得巧撒~

风随心动01

绝望的小老鼠 发表于 2013-5-9 14:47
1. China is going to be the largest auto market in the world, but the competition can be fierce.
   ...

谢谢小老鼠支持工作啊，逐篇点评很认真~
话说你的作业也很认真，加油加油成为大牛指日可待啊~

风随心动01

hyjxp 发表于 2013-5-9 14:17
我也占一个吧，待会来交作业。。。。。。。。。 感谢LZ
昨天光占座去没做，罪过！！！补上！！！

觉得你积累单词的方法很好诶~不过你有没有定期过来复习生词呢，积累要靠多复习的诶~
谢谢hyjxp支持工作啦~

风随心动01

huizhuo0309 发表于 2013-5-9 18:30
占座！！！！！

。。。次凹 我真的每篇都计时  每篇都写总结了！！！手一抖全删了！！！我靠靠靠！！！！ ...

~~我也经常出现这个囧事，用手机里的计时器，按错一个键，然后就白读了，所以现在都会读一篇就把一篇的计时记下来再去读下一篇~~加了个油~~
小分队只是督促大家的一个作用，做了就好啊~~

风随心动01

beckybei11 发表于 2013-5-9 21:33
122-059-315（3&4）-151-416.
谢谢LZ,难度适中，很合适~

恩呢，谢谢你支持工作啦~~
加油加油~~

风随心动01

烟囱XXQ 发表于 2013-5-9 23:29
1‘58“
the demand of cars is increasing in China while it is not in A or E.people believe it is a s ...

嘤嘤，谢谢烟囱支持工作~~