2. 外语
  3. • Read the article below which reviews a new book on company planning. • Choose the best sentence from the list on the opposite

• Read the article below which reviews a new book on company planning. • Choose the best sentence from the list on the opposite

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问题 • Read the article below which reviews a new book on company planning.
• Choose the best sentence from the list on the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
• For each gap 8-12, mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.
• Do not use any letter more than once.
                                 Firms need a better way of planning
       Nick Field, in his book Strategy Management, offers a new approach to help companies map out their future.
      Many companies have lost the art of strategy-making. They spend too much time looking at process change, organisation and systems. They do not invest enough effort in determining where they want to be in their markets and how they are going to beat their competitors They have got things out of balance. In many companies, the development of strategy is in crisis.
In a recent magazine poll, only six per cent of executives rated their company highly for long-term planning skills.  (8)  If this figure is accurate, it is not surprising that 29% of the FTSE 100 companies failed to achieve real sales growth between 1992 and 1996, when takeovers are excluded from the figures.
     There can be no doubt about the value of effective strategy-making. Recent research has shown that what are described as ’visionary’ companies - those with clear strategies for the future - deliver higher shareholder returns. They are less at risk from short-term earnings pressures because they know - and they can convince others - that they will survive these.
       (9)  Times have changed. The big company of today is not being defeated by another big company but by the small companies. So how do they do it? And where do companies that are failing in this respect turn? If a company accepts that their strategy development is not ’the best in the class’, if they acknowledge that they need to do more to map out their future, influence rather than be influenced, shape their market instead of being shaped by it, how should they take on this strategy-making challenge? Field’s book Strategy Management puts forward a new approach to help companies rediscover the power of forward planning.  (10)  The book is straightforward to understand and use, and offers practical and specific directions. Research and empirical testing have proved that it can be useful in all areas of industry and should be of value to any company.
The approach put forward is based on two key building blocks, the first being that any company considering its future must have a commitment to win.  (11)  The second building block is competitive advantage. The author defines four prime areas that differentiate organisations and influence purchase decisions. These are ’the performance of the product or service, sold at the most attractive price, with extraordinary levels of service and strong emotional values.’ It may require only one of these areas to produce a competitive advantage. Take Coca-Cola for example.  (12)  
       Companies can explore how to win by building on their commitment and working around this approach to identify which one or more of these four sources of advantage will lead to success.
A Clear guidelines are given on how to become involved with customers and build new forms of competitive advantage.
B Through the brand name, the company has established a relationship with customers’ feelings that has made the product highly successful,
C Another survey estimated that only one in ten companies had the information they needed to make strategic decisions.
D Lacking any debate about the future, these are typically reduced to a once-a-year form-filling exercise.
E If this comes across forcefully enough rivals will see it and go elsewhere, believing the market will be taken over by another.
F In the past, it was generally believed that the scale of the company was the most significant factor.
G They do not invest enough effort in determining where they want to be in their markets and how they are going to beat their competitors.
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