Прочитайте текст Competition has sharply intensified as the number of firms engaged in producing sim...: ответ на тест 605473 - Английский язык

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Competition has sharply intensified, as the number of firms engaged in producing similar products has increased. Each firm tries to differentiate its products from those of its competitors. Profit margins, meaning the profit percentages made by a business per dollar of sales, are constantly being lessened. While costs continue to rise, competition tends to keep prices down. The result is a narrowing spread between costs and selling prices, and an increase in a business’ sales volume is necessary to maintain or increase profit.
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Each firm tries to differentiate its products from those of ____________________.

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Pricing Methods
1. Price is a very important weapon that can be used to persuade consumers to buy. Price is one of many factors that determine the demand for a product. What are the most common pricing methods adopted by firms?
2. Cost-plus pricing is a very simple pricing method and is perhaps the most common. A firm may calculate its average costs of producing a product and simply add a profit «mark up», say 10 %, on to average costs. This mark-up could be changed to allow for the effects of competition and economic conditions, e.g. where there is a lot of competition this mark-up may be lowered or when business is good the mark-up could be raised.
3. Marginal-cost pricing differs from the above in that the firm looks not at its average costs but marginal costs, i.e. the firm calculates the additional cost of producing the next unit or set of units of output and the firm charges a price (plus a ‘mark-up’) according to the marginal cost. A typical example is found in the shoe repair business. There appear to be no standard prices for repairing shoes. What tends to happen is that the cobbler examines the shoes and makes a quick estimate of how much material and time it will take to repair them. Larger shoes, those made of leather and those in greater disrepair have a higher marginal cost and therefore a higher price is charged for their repair.
4. Price discrimination: several firms are able to charge different prices for a similar product. This is known as price discrimination. British Rail (BR), for example, charges different consumers such as businessmen and women, children, senior citizens and students different prices and also charges different prices according to the time of journey, e.g. peak, off-peak, weekly and week-end.
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What can make a profit «mark up» change?

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The consumer movement, that is, the insistence on reputable products and services by consumer groups, gives every indication of becoming a permanent influence on marketing techniques. Both consumer groups and government agencies have intensified their scrutiny of products, challenging such diverse elements as product design, length and legitimacy of warranty, and promotional tactics. New legislation has generally defined and extended the manufacturer’s responsibility for product performance.
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The consumer movement gives every indication of becoming a permanent influence on ___________________.

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Ecological concerns have affected product design and marketing, especially as the expense of product modification has increased the retail cost. Such forces, which have added to the friction between producer and consumer, must be understood by the marketer and integrated into a sound marketing program.
Even the way a firm handles itself in public life, that is, how it reacts to social and political issues, has become significant. The public’s dissatisfaction with the actions and attitudes of a firm has sometimes led to a reduction in sales; conversely, consumer enthusiasm, generated by a firm’s intentional establishment of a good public image or public relations, has led to increased sales.
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Ecological concerns have affected ____________________.

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Perhaps nothing is more conducive to the success of a firm than the image that it conveys of itself to the public. The marketing activities of a company, because they act directly on the consumer, do most to shape this image and thus must be developed with great care. As marketing has become increasingly more complex, a need has arisen for executives trained in the social sciences who also possess statistical, mathematical, and computer backgrounds. Many colleges and universities now have programs designed to train marketing executives. Courses are offered at the undergraduate and the graduate level in such specialized fields as advertising, administrative practices, financial management, production, human relations, retailing, and personnel administration.
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Many colleges and universities now have programs designed to __________________.

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The pyramid of management cannot be ideal, as well as it is impossible to draw an ideal picture or to write an ideal poem. The present world of standards and computer control systems differs a lot from that we had some centuries before. However, these are just tools like artful screwdrivers in the hands of mechanics, allowing to operate more intensive administrative flows, and no more than that. Their efficiency and the volume of use depend on experts in business organization and introduction, who get certain orders from those who build the management pyramid. It is very important, that the creator himself set the tasks, as a rule by the main technologist. Business negotiations with partners and maintenance of one’s own interests are quite different from the routine creation of the system, the artful construction of mechanisms of business flows, the coordination of the effective schemes with the executors, and the creation of ergonomic interfaces. As a result there should be a prompt reaction of the system to the accepted decisions, the reaction being adequate on all levels.
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The present world of standards and computer control systems differs a lot from that we had ____________________.