(1) What expense do people typically incur on a business trip?

　　商务差旅中有哪些主要费用?

　　Expenses on a business trip include hotel bills, traveling expenses, public transportation fares, fax or telephone charges and client entertainment expenses, etc.

　　(2) How should companies control business travel expenses?

　　公司应怎样控制其商务差旅费用?

　　Companies should develop a sound expenses claims system to prevent any system abuse and possible malpractice.(系统滥用和可能的舞弊行为)

　　(3) Do you think it’s necessary to have control over the usage of electricity?(Why?/Why not?)

　　你是否认为控制电力使用很重要?(为什么?)

　　Yes. Electricity costs are a very important component of overheads, if a company can keep electric rates low, it will certainly be very helpful in overheads reduction.

　　(4) Is it important to involve employees in overheads reduction project?(Why?)

　　让员工参与办公费用削减计划是否重要?(为什么?)

　　Yes. Overheads are the indirect cost of business, they are closely related to the welfare of all staff members, so concerted efforts are needed from both managers and staff to implement the overheads reduction project.

　　PART TWO: Mini-presentation

　　What’s important when…?

　　Aiming to slash business overheads 要削减管理费用需要考虑哪些要点?

　　l Budget and management 预算和管理

　　l Long-term effects 长期效果

　　First of all, business overhead expenditure needs to be budgeted and apportioned as fairly as possible to different departments of the business. Once we have set a clear budget plan, we’ll be able to manage the overheads costs by limiting budget spending and improving overhead productivity. And in case an over-expenditure occurs, we’ll be able to track the cause and check it in time.

　　Meanwhile, long-term effects should also be considered. In reducing overheads costs, we should not aim to seek instant success, we should put our overheads reduction plan in a greater perspective and evaluate their overall effects. Reduction measures should enable the company to tap its potential productivity and ensure its future development.

　　In addition to that, we also need to involve our staff member into the overheads reduction project, and try to see if they have anything to contribute to it.

　　首先，公司经费需要被预算以及尽可能公平的分配给公司不同的部门。一旦我们有一个清晰的预算计划，我们可以管理日常开支来限制预算的花费和改善生产力的日常开销。而且一旦偶然发生经费超出的情况，我们也能够及时追踪和检查原因。

　　同时，长期的效果也应该被考虑，为了减少日常开支，我们不应该只追求急功近利，我们应当从更长远的角度去看待我们的经费削减计划，而且要评估其总体效果。削减措施应使公司能够利用其潜在的生产力，并确保其未来的发展。

　　除此之外，我们也应需要让员工参与到经费削减方案当中，并尝试寻找他们能对其有何贡献。

　　PART THREE: Discussion

　　Introducing new ways to save on office supplies

　　The company you work for has decided to introduce new ways to save on office supplies, as a part of the overheads reduction plan. You have been asked to make suggestions about it. Discuss the situation together, and decide:

　　l what are the ways to save office expenses

　　l how to motivate the staff

　　实行节省办公用品的新方法

　　作为削减管理费用计划的一部分，你们公司正在考虑实行节省办公用品的新方法。请你们协助策划这一计划。讨论并决定：

　　l 节省办公开支有哪些方法

　　l 怎样激发员工的热情

　　A: To keep office expenses down, we can start from office stationery. Items like pens, paper, paper clips, and pencils do not cost a lot individually, but we use them in large quantities, so there is potential for huge savings.

　　B: I’m with you here. You see, there is a great difference in price between the name-brand and generic brand stationery, so if we look for cheaper sources, we’ll end up saving hundreds of pounds a year.

　　A: Yes, cheaper sources are important, we can get much cheaper prices on office suppliers through group purchasing. If we pool our orders with other businesses, we can buy in large quantity and receive lower bulk prices.

　　B: Indeed. We can also use mail-order. Mail-order office supply companies are convenient because they deliver to your door, and it saves both gas and time.

　　A: We should also encourage staff to recycle used paper, and ask our staff to edit on the screen as much as possible, print one final rough draft to proofread on paper. That’s a very effective way to reduce paper consumption.

　　B: And buying used office furniture is also an important way of cutting overheads. But to motivate our staff members, there should be measures to monitor their performance regularly. We can…

　　A: I’d like to put in a word here, never use disposables in the office, use recycled printer cartridges and rechargeable batteries.

　　B: Yes, that’s especially important. We should involve all office staff into our cost saving plan. For example, we should ask staff members to turn off the air-conditioner half an hour before they leave the office, so as to cut some electricity bills.

　　A: You’re right. To make sure that our staff voluntarily comply with the overheads expenditure reduction rules, we can include that in our staff appraisals. I mean whether staff members are supportive in our overheads reduction project.

　　B: I agree. And we can also award those who are most supportive in our project.

　　A: That’s good.

　　A: 为了减少办公经费，我们首先应从办公文具入手。例如：钢笔、纸张、回形针，以及铅笔等，每个人都不会花费太多，但是我们有大量的需求数量，因此，这里有巨大的节约潜力可挖掘。

　　B：我同意你的观点，你看，名牌和一般文具之间有巨大的价格差异。因此，如果我们寻找更便宜的货源，我们将每年节省几百英镑。

　　A：是的，便宜的货源是很重要的，我们可以通过团购让办公用品的供应商提供更为低廉的价格。如果我们与其他公司共同订购，就可以购买更多数量的用品来得到更低的批发价格。

　　B：事实上。我们也可以选择邮购。邮购办公用品公司非常便利，因为他们送货上门，这将节省汽油和时间。

　　A：我们也可以鼓励员工使用再生纸，要求我们的员工尽可能在电脑里编辑，把最后的草稿打印出来校对。这是减少纸张浪费的一个非常有效的方法。

　　B：购买二手办公家具也是一个重要的减少经费的方法。但是为了激励员工，应该采取方法定期监督他们的表现，我们能…

　　A：我想插一句，永远不要在办公室使用一次性的文具，使用再生打印机墨盒及充电电池。

　　B：是的，那是特别的重要。我们应该让所有员工参与到我们的成本降低计划中，例如，我们应该告诉员工在离开办公室前半小时关闭空调，可以因此节省电费。

　　A：是的。确保我们的员工自愿遵守经费削减规则，我们应该把它作为员工评估的一项。我的意思是员工是否支持我们的经费削减方案这条。

　　B：我同意。我们也可以奖励那些最支持我们方案的员工。

　　A：那很棒。

　　(1) How important is it for companies to keep overheads down?

　　公司削减管理开支有何重要意义?

　　Keeping costs under control and overheads down is a priority for all organizations, because overheads costs are directly related to the company’s profitability and welfare of the staff members.

　　(2) Is it a good idea to cut investment to reduce overheads?

　　用减少投资的办法来削减管理费用好么?(为什么?)

　　No. cutting investment to reduce costs is a short-term measure. In the long run, it is unfavourable to company development, as limited scale and productivity weakens a company’s competitive edge.

　　(3) Might there be some measures that would not be effective?

　　有些措施是否可能无效?(为什么?)

　　Yes. If you set a very low limit on telephone bills, employees might fail to maintain regular contact with their clients or customers for fear of over-expenses.

　　(4) What do you think the manager should do in overheads cutting project?

　　在削减管理开支计划中，经理应该做些什么?

　　I think the manager is responsible for budgeting overheads and carefully tracking the costs, minimizing expenditure at all time. He should also see to it that staff members abide by the rules as required.

　　(5) What new ideas do you have to keep overheads costs down in a company?

　　关于削减公司的管理费用，你有什么新的想法?

　　Companies can make use of the internet, conducting routine office work through digital media. We can convert every single paper process into a digital one, the so-called “paperless office”. It lowers overheads very effectively.

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