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BTS Comptabilité et gestion 2e année[pic 1]

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Exemple de restitution orale en anglais

The document describes Wawa, a family business, which is now a private limited company with 16,000 employees

and over 500 stores, in the Mid-Atlantic States of the USA. The business specializes in convenience stores,

quality food products, own-brand coffee, tea, milkshakes, sodas and delicatessen food.

The company is now also owned by the employees who are shareholders. The Wood family founded the business

over 200 years ago. The company has been developed and headed by the Wood family ever since. The family,

while adapting to changing times, adding new products and expanding, have always stuck to the concept of

convenience and community spirit. First, Richard with his country store, then David with cast iron products, then

George who started the Wawa Dairy farm and Grahame who opened the first Wawa Market. Now Richard chairs

the board of directors and ensures that the business keeps the family spirit.

Most of the stores are open round the clock, 7 days a week. They remain medium-sized, small enough to create

a warm atmosphere, but without being too cramped. Likewise the scope of Wawa’s development has been

limited to the Mid Atlantic states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, Delaware, New

York, West Virginia, which also contributes to the stores’ local flavor.

Wawa caters to everyone in the community: the stores offer a bit of something for all ages: sodas, milkshakes

and hoagies for the kids, newspapers, good coffee and homemade muffins for those on their way to work; last

minute items and sandwiches and homemade counter food for the family; and above all a friendly, lively shop

around the corner particularly appreciated by senior citizens.

Wawa extends its community spirit by being socially responsible, providing and educating people about healthy

food, sponsoring local educational and environmental projects, and contributing to national causes and to

emergency relief abroad.

Wawa is an example of a company that has developed without becoming impersonal, keeping in mind convenience,

but also the comfort and psychological needs of consumers while shopping and consuming.

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Exemple d'interaction orale en anglais

What are the basic ingredients of a successful business?

First of all, the entrepreneur must have vision, find a niche and have a good idea. Then, he must carry out a

market study to be sure that there is demand, and decide what segment of the population to target. Meanwhile,

capital has to be raised to produce the product. Finally, aiming at good quality on all levels, the marketing mix

must be applied: manufacture a good product, set the right price, propose attractive packaging, choose the best

means of promotion, and decide on the right place to sell the product. Careful reflection at all these stages is

necessary to get started in the right direction.

However, there are always unforeseeables such as economic recession, and changes in customer tastes

and habits. Once the product is launched, running a business is hard work and requires time, effort, good

management & service, along with competent, conscientious employees. Management has to motivate their

staff, and if possible offer financial incentives and perks. The company must also be flexible and ready to adapt

to demands, and if necessary to revamp a product, innovate and upgrade equipment.

Could you give an example of another company that started small and has become big? Could you describe

its development and the reason for its success?

Wal-Mart is a company that, like Wawa, started small and grew to be a very large company. It is now a public

company quoted on the stock market, a multinational, and, with an impressive chain of hypermarkets and

discount stores, the biggest retailer in the world.

Like Wawa, it started and developed as a family business. Sam Walton, its founder, began helping out on the

family farm. When his parents moved to a small town, he got a job in a retailing outlet, after which he ran a

variety store. After serving in WWII, he opened his first Wal-Mart discount store.

From then on, Wal-Mart has kept on growing in every way, size of its stores, range of products (mostly dry goods,

although fresh produce slowly appeared in some stores) and the number of outlets and geographical location.

Wal-Mart has expanded all over the United States and abroad, unlike Wawa which has limited its operations

to the Mid-Atlantic States and has deliberately stuck to medium-size outlets, small enough to have a local

atmosphere.

Although Wal-Mart has failed in certain foreign countries (mainly where it failed to adapt to local consumer

habits), it has, by and large, been extremely successful. This is due to a number of factors: its wide range

of products and its use of high tech devices like RFIDs to ensure efficiency and rapidity in operations thus

streamlining logistics and distribution. Above all, however, its success is due to its unbeatable prices. Wal-Mart

achieves lower prices than all its competitors by paying employees minimum wage, sourcing at suppliers in

developing countries and negotiating good deals in exchange for bulk orders.

Public pressure, however, has forced Wal-Mart to be more socially responsible, and it now provides health

insurance, scholarships and online training for suppliers and its store employees in developing countries. It has

also used its high tech logistics and distribution system to intervene in emergency relief, for example in New

Orleans after hurricane Katrina.

What are the pros and cons of working for a small business? The pros and cons of working for a large

company? Which would you prefer to work for and why?

A small business can have a friendly atmosphere. You know everyone, and even if it isn’t a family business, it’s

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