Final Task: Corruption, sexism and thrift

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bizweekly

Before analyzing the record I want to say what are the corruption, sexism and thrift.  Sexism is the Stone Age attitudes that stop women getting top jobs. Corruption: Is paying the odd business. Nowadays it is a real evil. Thriftiness: the business culture of the flat pack furniture giant IKEA.

Corruption. The annual corruption barometer from Transparency International was published this week. The majority of respondents believed corruption in their country was getting worse. Gary Bosh (transport logistics expert), who worked in Russia and Africa earlier, says that the main problem of corruption is that people who take bribes works in the government. He says that if people want to avoid corruption they should elect the new government.

Sexism. Nowadays we can meet a lot of cases of sexism despite we live in XXI century. Researching of 250 companies has shown us that only 7% of the representation of their board is women. One of the bankers notices that women have a positive influence on the business. Jo Dickson, who worked at the top of the British bank, told the story about her early days in business. Once there was a morning meeting of the board where she was invited. When she came in the room the unknown man turned to her and said: «Hello, Jo. I don’t know what are you doing at this meeting because this bank has been run by men for 300 years and people like you are used to be home having babies.» Jo was shocked, but she answered: «John, thank you very much for saying this. It's very kind of you to say it right to me, because a lot of people have the same opinion but they cannot say it to my face. This bank has a future and a part of this future will be people like me who won't sit home having babies. » Jo understood that if the more women work in the company it is the better for the company because such women as Jo are worry about its future.

Thriftiness. Nowadays IKEA is the largest furniture retailer. The broadcaster had an interview with Johan Stenebo (a former senior IKEA executive). Johan told about IKEA unique corporate culture. There weren't any problems with the business culture because it was very strong from the business point. It brought the management of IKEA together and they had a good stuff. According to Johan Stanebo's point of view, there are some problems with its further rapid growth.

What physics can teach us about marketing

I have just heart to an audio record «What physics can teach us about marketing». Here is the reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_cobley_what_physics_taught_me_about_marketing.html

This record is rather difficult for understanding. The duration of the video is 7:39 min but there is a very fluent English of Mr. Cobley and I needed 3 times to understand the maintenance of this video record. This a video talk with Dan Cobley, who is a marketing director in Google. His duty is to connect customers and businesses, helping to satisfy their needs. He has worked in both the UK and US, but always in marketing although his first degree from Oxford is in physics. In his speech, Dan explains what physics taught him about marketing. He gives examples of the main physical laws and transfers his knowledge from physics to marketing.

Firstly he said about Newton’s Law: For a larger particle of larger mass requires more force to change its direction. It’s the same with brands: the bigger the brand, the more force is needed to change its positioning.

Then he explained Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: You can never accurately and exactly measure the particle, because observation changes it. The message for marketing is that try to measure what consumers actually do, rather than what they say they’ll do, or anticipate they’ll do.

The next point was The fundamental axiom of physics: you can’t prove a hypothesis through observation, it’s easier to disprove it. As to marketing: no matter how much is invested in your brand, one bad week can undermine decades of good work.

And in the end of his performance he said about The second law of thermodynamics: Entropy will always increase. Message for marketing: your brand is more dispersed than you suppose.

To my mind, Dan’s speech is very informative. I guessed that all of the sciences were related together, but I didn’t imagine such a close connection between physics and marketing.

Credit cards

I have heard to an audio record of «Credit cards». Here is the reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2010/02/100211_6min_creditcard_page.shtml

It is rather easy for listening and I needed to hear it twice to understand its maintenance completely. At first it was rather difficult for me because of fluent English of the speakers and some new words but during the second listening I have understood everything. The duration of this audio record is 6 minutes.  There were no technical problems with the listening.

In this audio record I have met the words like "credit card", "cash", "profit" and etc. It is very interesting audio record because we know a lot of interesting things about history of credit cards and cash machines.

             At the beginning of the tape Dan made clear the word "credit card" and told that it is used for purchasing in shops and so on. Kate assumed that the first credit card appeared in 1962.

            After that the conversation about pros and cons of credit cards has begun. There were examples that credit cards are easy in use and more convenient, than cash and so on. But it was noticed that many people consider that using credit cards takes much more money than just using cash. Then the reporter Mark who was talking about the first cash machines joined to Dan and Kate's conversation. Mark told us the first cash machines had appeared in 1967.        

In summary Dan told the story about the creation of the first credit card. As he said, certain Frank had a supper at the restaurant with his lawyer and they didn't have enough money to pay off. So Frank sent his wife for money. It was a shame to him and Frank decided to "think up" credit cards.

Tracy Chapman

According to the 4^th unit in The Market Leader book «Success» I have listened to the story of success of Tracy Chapman. You can find it here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2008_46_mon.shtml .  The duration of this record is 13 minutes and I have heard to it all. During the first listening I understood 75-80% of the information because fluent English of speakers and some new words; the second listening was more effective because I have translated the unknown words and understood the podcast completely.  In this audio record Tracy Chapman says about her life, music and politics, and performs some tracks for Woman’s Hour.

Tracy Chapman became the global star at the age of 24 after performing at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert in London in 1988. Her debut album earned three Grammy Awards, and became the most successful album by a female artist in UK chart history. Hits such as «Fast Car», «Talking about a Revolution» and «Baby Can I Hold You» became firmly lodged in our collective memory. But despite releasing seven more well-received albums she never regained the same level of success. But all this could be about to change with a new album and a European tour.

Tracy was born in Cleveland in 1964 in a very poor family. She had a young sister and did not have enough food. Tracy was happy only playing guitar. Her mother was proud of the talent of her daughter and Tracy at the age of 16 wrote the song «Talking about a Revolution» that has made her famous. She says that when she was writing the song she thought about your family, that’s why the song is so lyric and kind.

What about the Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert in London, she says that she was invited to it and it was a real shock for the young Tracy. She said that it had been the best day of her performances and it had been really exciting. Also Tracy said that she is Barak Obama supporter. At the end of the conversation Tracy presented her new song very lyrical happy and easy.

Witness - Dayton Peace Accords

I have just heart to an audio record «Witness - Dayton Peace Accords». http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00bybnb/Witness_Dayton_Peace_Accords/ This audio record is simple enough for listening. Its duration is only 9 minutes, and I have heard to it all. During the first listening I have found some new words, I have translated them and during the second listening to an audio record, I have understood everything.

It is about last days of the negotiations at Dayton, as seen from inside the Serbian delegation. This event happened 15 years ago in November in American city Dayton Ohio. 3 delegations from Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Croatia designed peace talks but at the 2 a.m. something happened inside the airbase. Before this event Serbian people and Americans had very touching relationships because they had worked much time together. But Americans came back again. Miloshovich was really upset starting to shooting. He cannot believe that such things happened. This year was the end of Yugoslavia. The territory and political power was divided. The active and emotional talks started among the parties. There was massive international pressure on the Croatia President to sign the agreement with the Americans. Also that time was very long talks with the Bosnia.

I want to say that this audio record is about the complex blood conflict that had happened 15 years ago. But now there are good mood among Americans and Yugoslavian people.