PART ONE: INTERVIEW

　　(1) What do you think is the most obvious competition?

　　你认为最明显的竞争形势是什么?

　　It’s the direct competition, that is competition among firms that sell the same goods and services and compete for the same customers.

　　(2) Do indirect competitors pose threats to a firm?(Why?/Why not?)

　　间接竞争者会对公司造成威胁吗?(为什么?)

　　Yes, they represent serious potential threats. Though they sell different goods and services, they sell to the same customers as your business. In some cases, the firm’s indirect competitors sell a substitute product or service, so you may lose much of you business to them.

　　(3) Do you think it an effective way to meet and beat competition by increasing quality?(Why?/Why not?)

　　你认为提高产品质量是应对竞争和赢得竞争者有效的方法吗?(为什么?)

　　Yes, because it is difficult for a competitor to match another firm’s quality. If the firm can establish a quality advantage, it can raise its price and earn a higher profit.

　　(4) Do you think cutting price is the most effective way to meet competition?(Why?/Why not?)

　　你认为降价是应对竞争最有效的策略吗?(为什么?)

　　Yes, usually customers are price sensitive, by cutting prices, you can greatly increase sales and take your competitors’ business away.

　　PART TWO: MINI-PRESENTATION

　　What is important when…?

　　Dealing with competition 应对竞争时要注意什么要点?

　　l Pricing policies 价格策略

　　l Advertising strategies 广告策略

　　l

　　Pricing policies are important because price is a very powerful weapon in dealing with competition. Price is a very important factor in cunsumers’ buying decisions. Firms may set prices equal or lower than competitors’ prices, so that they can attract customers, thus boosting sales and taking a large market share.

　　Advertising strategies are also important. Advertising can increase brand awareness. Once consumers have seen a product advertised either on TV, Internet, or in newspapers, magazines, etc., they may tend to buy it.

　　In addition, quality is also important. A firm differentiates itself through the quality of its products. Not all buyers base their buying decision on prices. They are willing to pay a higher price for better quality.

　　价格政策很重要因为价格是应对竞争的强大武器。价格是消费者购时的重要决定因素。公司可能制定与竞争者相同或低于竞争者得价格。这样的话他们可以吸引客户，因此促进销售以及占领大面积市场份额。

　　广告策略也很重要，广告能增加品牌意识。一旦消费者通过电视、网络、或者新闻、报纸等途径看到产品广告，他们可能有购买的打算。

　　此外，质量也很重要。公司通过产品质量来区分产品。不是所有的购买者都是以价格为决定基础。他们愿意花费更高的价格去购买质量更高的产品。

　　PART THREE: DISCUSSION

　　Dealing with competition

　　You work in a car manufacturing company. You have been asked by your manager to help design the competition strategies. Discuss the situation together, and decide:

　　l what should be the pricing strategies

　　l what should be the quality and service strategies

　　应对竞争

　　你们在一家汽车制造公司工作。经理请你们帮助设计竞争策略。讨论并决定：

　　l 应采取什么价格策略

　　l 应采取什么质量和服务策略

　　A: Nowadays, there is a severe competition among car manufacturing companies. In order to survive in competition, I think our company should cut the prices of our cars.

　　B: Yes, I think so. If we cut the prices, many people will afford a car, and of course, we can increase our sales.

　　A: That’s right. But we must ensure that we have increased the scale of production and that the costs of production are low, otherwise we’ll reduce revenue.

　　B: Other car companies will do the same, too. So, I think cutting prices is not enough. We should produce cars which are of high quality, then customers will be attracted by our cars.

　　A: Yes. And I also think that we should offer customers some services that other car companies don’t offer, for example, free car cleaning within 3 months of purchase.

　　B: That sounds good. We can also compete by making some changes of the exterior looks of our car to make it more fashionable or sporty. Many people base their buying decisions just on the styles of cars.

　　A: We can also develop some new and smaller cars. Because of limited space in cities, nowadays, people prefer small cars, but these small cars must be of superior quality.

　　B: Or we can make some innovations to our present cars to cater for the tastes and needs of customers.

　　A: OK, we can compete by cutting prices and making some innovations to cars.

　　B: And by developing new cars and offering extra services.

　　A: 现如今，汽车制造公司竞争激烈。为了在竞争中生存，我认为公司应该削减我们公司汽车的价格。

　　B: 是的，我想是这样。许多人能负担一辆汽车，当然，我们也能增加销售。

　　A: 是的。但是我们必须确保我们已经增强了产品的规格以及降低产品成本，否则，我们的收入将减少。

　　B：其他汽车公司也将做同样的事情。因此我认为削减价格并不足够。我们应该生产高质量的汽车，这样的话会吸引消费者关注我们的汽车。

　　A: 是的，而且我也认为我们应该为消费者提供一些其他公司所不能提供的服务，比如，购车三个月内免费的汽车清洗。

　　B: 听起来不错。我们也可以通过一些外观的改变来竞争，使其看起来更加时尚更加运动。许多人只是将汽车的品位来作为购买决策的基准。

　　A: 我们也可以开发新的和小型的汽车。因为城市空间有限，现如今，人们青睐小型汽车，但是这些小型汽车必须具备超高的质量。

　　B: 或者我们可以为我们目前的汽车做一些革新来迎合消费者的品位和需求。

　　A: 好的，我们可以通过削减价格和对汽车做革新来竞争。

　　B: 并且通过开发新的汽车和提供额外的服务来面对竞争。

　　(1) Will you compete by offering extra services to customers?(Why?/Why not?)

　　你会通过给顾客提供更多的服务来参与竞争吗?(为什么?)

　　Yes, I will, because a firm can also differentiate itself through extra services it offers to customers. Superior services can attract customers.

　　(2) Do you think it a good way of competing by developing new and improved products or services?(Why?/Why not?)

　　你认为开发新产品或服务是参与竞争的好方法吗?(为什么?)

　　Yes, I think it is a good way. Innovation is a key to success for some firms. Motorola is a typical example.

　　(3) What would you do in the selling effort sector in order to compete?

　　你会在销售方面做什么努力以应对竞争?

　　I will use advertising, training the sales force and all the related activities to ensure that my firm has the superior sales techniques.

　　(4) Do you think location is important for retail businesses to compete?(Why?/Why not?)

　　你认为零售商店所处的位置对应对竞争很重要吗?

　　I think location is particularly important for retail businesses. Shoppers are naturally drawn to some locations but find it hard to go to others. A retail store in a place that shoppers think is out of the way will not last long.

　　(5) What do you think a company can do to lower its average costs?

　　你认为公司可以采取什么措施来降低平均成本?

　　By increasing the size of its production facilities and its overall volume of production, or by increasing efficiencies gained from experience of making the product.

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