首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Read the article below about a technology company and the questions on the opposite page. For each question(13-18), mark one let
Read the article below about a technology company and the questions on the opposite page. For each question(13-18), mark one let
admin
2013-05-18
34
问题
Read the article below about a technology company and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question(13-18), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
Critical Path
When David Hayden realised his company was heading for trouble, he took drastic
measures to get it back on track
David Hayden founded his company, Critical Path, an email provider, in 1997 to take advantage of the boom in email traffic. Critical Path became a public company two years later, and Hayden took the opportunity to step down from his executive position in order to work on personal projects. At the same time, he agreed to stay with the company as Chairman, but the business was put in the hands of new managers by its investors. With sector-leading products and an expanding market, the company seemed to be on the up and up. However, by early 2001, it was in trouble. Shares that had been worth $26 in 1999, when they were first sold, were down to a mere 24 cents.
Called in by a panicking board, Hayden found himself back in charge as Executive Chairman, trying desperately to rescue what he could. The 1,100 staff had lost confidence in the company and did not know what was going to happen to them. And, as Hayden discovered, the management team was incompetent. ’Those guys didn’t understand the product or the sector,’ says Hayden. ’The heads of department didn’t communicate and they didn’t lead.’ But what was worse, Critical Path had lost the goodwill of its investors.
Hayden knew that bringing the figures under control would be a vital step in the company’s turnaround. ’You’ve got to sort out the finances. For me, that meant getting back the goodwill of the investors. That was tough, after what had happened. But although they were angry with the company, they didn’t have bad feelings about me. I told them that I knew I could get the company on its feet again.’ He was authorised to make whatever changes were required, and his first act was to find people within the company he could trust and put them in charge.
The next thing Hayden had to tackle was morale. ’Everyone left the office at five on the dot - they couldn’t get away quickly enough. To get the buzz back and win the staff over, I had to prove my own commitment and put in the extra hours with them.’ In return, it was assumed that nobody would ask for overtime pay until the company was on its feet again. Contrary to normal practice, Hayden was reluctant to lay people off, and apart from not replacing people as they reached retirement age, he left the workforce largely unchanged, although he did identify key people throughout the company who were given more responsibility.
But, as Hayden insists, before a company reaches such a crisis, there are warning signs that any financial director or accountant should take note of. ’A business that has an unrealistic pricing policy or has to negotiate extended credit with its suppliers is in trouble,’ is his message. ’Or if you often have to apply for your overdraft limit to be raised or have trouble paying tax on time, something needs to be done.’
By 2003, the company was healthy again, with reasonably stable finances and a modest but steady share price of $1.60. ’One thing that helped save us was that our technology worked,’ says Hayden. ’With 20 million email accounts, we never lost a single major client because the product kept on working.’ With ideas for a fresh venture demanding his attention elsewhere, Hayden has moved on. ’It was time to go,’ he says. ’I’m not a turnaround specialist. I prefer start-ups.’
Which of the following situations did Hayden face at Critical Path in 2001?
选项
A、The employees were worried about job security.
B、The investors were calling for changes to the company structure.
C、The management was misleading the staff about the company’s position.
D、The board of directors did not realise the scale of the company’s problems.
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/PjoO777K
本试题收录于:
BEC中级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC中级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
Readthearticlebelowabouthowcapitalcontrolsandmonetarypolicyareimportantadoptableindevelopingcountries.Choos
Readthefollowingarticleaboutresponsibilityforthenaturalenvironmentandthequestionsontheoppositepage.Foreach
•Lookatthestatementsbelowandatthefiveshortsummariesontheoppositepageaboutbusinessbooksonleadership&manageme
Inthispartofthetest,youareaskedtogiveashorttalkonabusinesstopic.Youhavetochooseoneofthetopicsfromthe
Inthispart,theinterlocutorasksquestionstoeachofthecandidatesinturn.Youhavetogiveinformationaboutyourselfand
A:WHATISIMPORTANTWHEN…?Aimingtoimprovecareerprospects•Readingbusinessarticles•Learningaforeignlanguag
1.Inthispart,theinterlocutorasksquestionstoeachofthecandidatesinturn.Youhavetogiveinformationaboutyourself
Inthispartofthetest,youareaskedtogiveashorttalkonabusinesstopic.Youhavetochooseoneofthetopicsfromthe
Inthispartofthetest,youareaskedtogiveashorttalkonabusinesstopic.Youhavetochooseoneofthetopicsfromthe
Youwillhearfivestatementsinwhichpeopletalkabouttheiropinionsonbusinessmeetings.Foreachrecording,decideeac
随机试题
胆矾的功效
男,56岁,肺气肿史,发热、咳嗽8天,痰量多而黏稠,胸片:右上肺大片状阴影内有多个空腔,水平裂呈向下弧型。
关于移动模架法现浇预应力混凝土连续梁的要求,正确的有()。
张小姐有了一定积蓄,想买一些外汇产品,但她对外汇产品不甚了解,于是向理财规划师进行咨询。国家对汇率的变动都十分重视,把汇率作为调节经济的主要杠杆,汇率的变化对于经济各方面的影响是不同的,以下理财规划师的解释正确的是()
管理信息系统技术也在随着计算机技术的发展而迅猛发展,作为商品流通企业的()对此应给予高度的关注。
A、 B、 C、 D、 A第一组图中,每个图形都被分为三层,共有3个小元素,每个小元素在这组图中都出现两次,第二组图遵循同样的规律,并且元素所在的层数和第一组图相对应。正确答案为A。
“有无相生,难易相成,长短相形,高下相倾,音声相和,前后相随”,这是老子的世界观,即事物的存在是对立统一的,这就是矛盾。下面俗语体现了矛盾的哲学思想的是()。
设窗体上有一个图片框Picturel,要在程序运行期间装入当前文件夹下的图形文件File1.jpg,能实现此功能的语句是
Eventhoughtheywerealreadylate,they______(宁愿停下来欣赏美丽的景色)thanjustgoon.
A、Choosehisownstyletomodel.B、Modelanycolor,patternandcut.C、Neverchangehisstyle.D、Nevercatertotheaudience.B对
最新回复
(
0
)