The Economist.

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Three’s a crowd

Entraînement à l’épreuve :   Compte rendu écrit en français (7 points)

Rédigez un compte rendu en français de l’article. Assurez-vous de bien mentionner toutes les idées principales développées dans l’article puis concluez par une remarque plus personnelle sur le point abordé. (300-400 mots)

        Léo Apotheker a été le patron de l'entreprise SAP, du mois de mai jusqu’au 7 février. SAP est une entreprise Allemande spécialisée dans les logiciels. Cette entreprise a été fondée par deux co-fondateurs, Mr Plattner et Mr Apotheker. Il faut savoir que monsieur Plattner est aussi le président du conseil d'administration de l’entreprise.

         Lors de son arrivée à la tête de SAP, monsieur Apotheker a hérité d'un certain nombre de problèmes qui l’a conduit à prendre des décisions difficiles. En effet, il a été obligé de réduire les coûts de l’entreprise, de licencier près de 4 000 personnes ainsi que d'augmenter les frais de maintenance et de mises à jour.

         Face à cette augmentation de frais, les clients ont protestés jusqu’à ce que la hausse des frais de maintenance et de mises à jour ait été supprimée. Cela a duré des mois. Néanmoins, les clients et la plupart des employés de l'entreprise avaient perdu confiance dans la direction.

        Afin de remédier à cela, le conseil d'administration a décidé de nommer deux nouvelles personnes à la place de monsieur Apotheker. Monsieur McDermott, responsable des ventes et monsieur Hagemann Snabe, responsable du développement de produits.

        Se trouvent dorénavant trois dirigeants au lieu de deux à la tête de l'entreprise. Cela peut créer une certaine appréhension, sachant également, que monsieur Plattner veut y jouer un rôle important. Il ne faut pas oublier que celui-ci faisait partie de l’ancienne direction qui a pris tant de décisions fatales pour l’entreprise et qu’il y a joué un rôle considérable.

        Bien que monsieur Plattner soit tout aussi impliqué que monsieur Apotheker dans ces prises de décisions, seul monsieur Apotheker, qui représentait la direction de l’entreprise a été blâmé, tandis que monsieur Plattner, n'a été en aucun cas ennuyé.

        A la fin de l’article, il est dit que monsieur Plattner a soutenu monsieur Apotheker lors d’une conférence. En effet il a dit que c’était souvent les dirigeants qui étaient blâmés lors de prises de décisions embarrassantes. Même si cela n’était pas justifié.

Courrier en anglais (7 points) :

You have just completed your studies and obtained your two-year BTS AG de PME-PMI diploma. In the past few years, you obtained advanced certifications in English and Chinese. In order to improve your computing skills, you took an advanced course in Micro-computing for the office during your last summer holiday.

You are now looking for a permanent position, preferably abroad, that would match both your skills and professional expectations. You have read this Classified Advertisement in last Friday’s Guardian date October 12th and you have decided to apply.

Write your job application letter in English. Date it from October 15th and make sure you include all the necessary information (sender’s name, address, phone and e-mail, date...). Don’t make it too long (200-250 words) and redundant with an enclosed résumé (not required here) that will list all your work experience and work references.

Lucie Rousseau

10  rue  du Vernon

39 250 Bief-du-Fourg FRANCE

+336 33 37 ** **

rousseau.lucie@laposte.net                                                          Mercurystaff,  Mercury Ltd

502   Holloway  Road

London  N7  6JD

United Kingdom

October 15, 20**

  Object : Application for the director’s assistant position            

        Dear Sir, Madam,

        I have learned about your need for a new team member at Mercury and I would be more than interested in this position. Indeed, I just obtained my assistant management diploma and I have advanced certifications in both English and Chinese.

        As you may discover in my enclosed resume, I had the chance to intern abroad in several international firms. These different internships taught me a lot about firm management but I also gained softer skills, such as communication, adaptability and capacity to work in multicultural environments.

        Moreover, I took an advanced course in Micro-computing during my last summer holiday. Since I also consider myself serious and hard-working, I am confident I can quickly adapt to your soft-wares.

        Motivated and conscientious, this position would be an opportunity to put into practice everything I have learned over the past years.

        Finally, I cannot withhold my excitement to base in London while having the chance to travel around while promoting your great products.

        Waiting for your reply, I stay at your disposal to share with you my true motivation and to answer any questions you may have, during of a possible interview.

        Thank you in advance for your consideration.

                                                                                                    ROUSSEAU Lucie[pic 1][pic 2]

Restitution écrite en anglais (6 points) :

Écoutez attentivement le document audio, puis faites un compte rendu en anglais des idées principales qu'il

contient. Concluez en donnant votre point de vue sur la question.

        The audio document is an extract from a radio show called ‘’Mind us touch’’ which talks about people who have innovative ideas. The guest is Bill Galloway, director manager of “Sport’s Spirit” (an English company that manufactures sportswear). Mister Galloway’s Department of research and development developed a new marketing concept consisting in personalizing sportswear with signatures of well-known sports people. Consumers will be able to choose between 3 and 10 signatures by clothing.

        Bill Galloway came to Mary’s studio for an interview, to explain how he will launch this idea in the market.  He said that advertising on television is too expensive, especially during the prime time hours (hundreds of thousands of pounds). And it’s not very effective because people get tired of all these ads and change channels. It’s not worth it.

         He wants to use radio advertisements because it’s cheap and people listen to the radio while doing other things at the same time, o it is more difficult to change channels. And they listen to radio everywhere (at home, in the car, in the street, …, thanks to Mp3 player).

        He also wants to use billboards, which are cost effective, and he is ready to pay an artist for designing a nice poster that doesn’t bring upon criticism.

        Potential buyers are aged between 20 and 30 years, that’s why mister Galloway will use the online advertising. It’s the best way to reach a wide audience and launch new products. It’ll be expensive but it’ll be profitable on the short and medium run. Young people represent an important market so they will spare no expense to reach them. It’s an investment!

        Personally, I think that it isn’t a totally new concept! Many years ago, Adidas has launched the Stan Smith shoes, which are signed by this now-famous tennis player. Decades after their first launch, they are still hugely popular. While it is not entirely new, this idea has a good potential. Mister Galloway could also use those sport celebrities for marketing purposes. For instance, by organizing a well-mediated “signing event” where customers could get their items signed in front of their eyes and meet their idol.

Lastly, I believe mister Galloway should take into consideration that about 1/3rd of online advertising is fraud so he might not target as many potential customers as expected through that mean.

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