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 following article about a US manufacturer of office supplies and the questions on the opposite page. For each questi
Read the following article about a US manufacturer of office supplies and the questions on the opposite page. For each questi
admin
2018-05-18
41
问题
Read the following article about a US manufacturer of office supplies and the questions on the opposite page.
For each question (15-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
In 1761 the German cabinet-maker Caspar Faber started a small business producing pencils. Three generations later, in the nineteenth century, the firm was run by Lothar von Faber, whose innovations included a hexagonal pencil to prevent it from rolling, and a system to designate the hardness of lead, which was eventually adopted by other manufacturers in the industry. Exports to the USA began in 1843, with a New York subsidiary set up six years later to handle the US end of the business, under the management of Lothar’s brother Eberhard. This firm subsequently started making its own pencils, using leads imported from its German parent company, until in 1903 the two companies separated. Eberhard Faber, the US company, became a competitor of the German business, now called Faber-Castell.
By the 1970s, Eberhard Faber, originator of the yellow pencil familiar to generations of North Americans, had a 10% share of the $100 million pencil market. The company’s sales of pencils, pens, erasers, and rubber bands were increasing in developing countries, but recent US sales were essentially static. As a result, Eberhard Faber’s US pencil sales accounted for less than 20% of its worldwide sales, and by the end of the decade the company’s total US earnings had declined.
The pencil market became particularly competitive in the early 1980s, and Eberhard Faber’s top management concluded that the key to greater US profitability was marketing. At first the firm made some mistakes. For example, after producing yellow pencils for nearly a century, the company decided to introduce a natural-looking pencil: bare cedar wood covered with a coat of clear lacquer. Eberhard Faber projected a 15% market share for the new product, thinking that the current trend toward naturalness would carry over into the pencil market. But stationers avoided the new product, preferring to stick with a proven seller.
Another strategic miscalculation involved the company’s redoubled efforts in art supplies, a market that yields greater profit margins than the highly competitive office supplies market. Because Eberhard Faber’s design markers were already successful, the company acquired several art supply firms. At the same time, however, it began to put less emphasis in the commercial office supplies field that accounted for two-thirds of its total sales. In this market, which included sales to corporations under own-brand labels as well as the Eberhard Faber name, the firm found itself gaining a reputation for non-competitive pricing and sluggish new-product development, despite the consistently good quality and service it actually offered.
Later in the 1980s new executives tried to revamp every aspect of the company’s ineffective marketing operation. They also developed new products, such as five-sided erasers in stylish colours. Nearly every product package was updated. Such moves benefited the company’s image, but despite its efforts Eberhard Faber was still struggling, and began seeking a buyer. Faber-Castell, seeing an opportunity to increase market share and protect the Faber trade name, made the landmark acquisition of Eberhard Faber in 1987, reuniting the two firms. After further major changes, in 1996 a new Faber-Castell was once again established as a wholly-owned US company.
The new Faber-Castell USA concentrated on high end markets, and soon launched an exclusive collection of premium writing instruments and accessories, intended to bring back the handwriting culture that had been thrown aside by modern technology. According to Till Quante, the company’s marketing manager for fine writing instruments, when the calculator and later the personal computer were introduced, those in love with technology predicted the pencil companies would die, but, ’Just the opposite happened,’ says Quante. Faber-Castell is confident of a bright future.
What are we told about Eberhard Faber’s situation in the 1970s?
选项
A、Sales in one of its markets were not matching rises elsewhere.
B、Its main product line was generating a declining share of its income.
C、Attempts to diversify into new products were proving unsuccessful.
D、It was losing market share to a number of competitors.
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/dv7d777K
本试题收录于:
BEC高级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
Advertising:theimportanceofusingcelebritiestoendorseproducts
Theinterlocutorasksyouquestionsonanumberofwork-relatedandnonwork-relatedsubjects.
(Thecandidatechoosesonetopicandspeaksaboutitforoneminute.)AShopping:theimportanceofplayingbackgroundmusicin
TaskSheetforCandidateATaskSheet1A:Businessethics:theimportanceofhavingprinciplesofrightorgoodbehaviorinbus
TaskOne-Job•Forquestions13-17,matchtheextractswiththepeople,listedA-H.•Foreachextract,choosethejobeachsp
Youwillheararadiointerviewaboutthesportswearindustry.Foreachquestion23-30,markoneletterA,BorCforthecorrec
•Readthetextbelowaboutthelogistics.•Inmostofthelines41-52thereisoneextraword.Itiseithergrammaticallyinco
•Readthetextbelowabouttelevisionnetwork.•Inmostofthelines41—52thereistoneextraword.Itiseithergrammatically
•Readthetextbelowabouttelevisionnetwork.•Inmostofthelines41—52thereistoneextraword.Itiseithergrammatically
随机试题
下列关于子宫下段的叙述中,哪项不正确
已知三向量a=(t,0,1),b=(1,2,1),c=(1,1,1)共面,则t=()。
工程监理单位负有审查施工方案等的责任,按照《建设工程安全生产管理条例》规定,工程监理单位重点是审查()。
绿地管道排水的设计施工,排水管道的坡度必须符合设计要求,或符合下列规定:()。
在进行培训与开发需求分析时,组织分析包括的主要因素有()。
在了解X公司及其环境、评估重大错报风险时,A注册会计师发现X公司20×1年度主要发生了下列事项:X公司20×0年实现的收入为12000万元。董事会制定的20×1年度目标年度总收入比20×0年上升20%。总经理的薪酬根据收入实现情况确定。20×1年12
合作学习在设计与实施上必须具备的特征有()。
舞蹈家来自法国的是()。
[*]
结构化设计中应用软件设计是其重要组成部分,它包含许多项内容,下述()是计算机进行信息处理时最基础性的工作。
最新回复
(
0
)