EfB Level 3 Model Answers Series 1 2001

LCCI Examinations Board MH N T296 9 TNM

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Examiner’s Report andModel Answers for

English for Business

THIRD LEVELSeries 1 (Code 3041) 2001

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English for Business Third LevelSeries 1 2001

How to use this booklet

Examiners’ Reports and Model Answers have been developed by LCCIEB to offer additionalinformation and guidance to Centres, teachers and candidates as they prepare for LCCIEBexaminations. The contents of this booklet are divided into 5 elements:

(1) General Comments – assessment of overall candidate performance in this examination,providing general guidance where it applies across theexamination as a whole

(2) Questions – reproduced from the printed examination paper

(3) Model Answers – summary of the main points that the Chief Examiner expected tosee in the answers to each question in the examination paper

(4) Examiner’s Report – constructive analysis of candidate error, areas of weakness andother comments that apply to each question in the examinationpaper

(5) Helpful Hints – where appropriate, additional guidance relating to individualquestions or to examination technique

Teachers and candidates should find this booklet an invaluable teaching tool and an aid to success.

The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board provides Model Answers tohelp candidates gain a general understanding of the standard required. The Board accepts thatcandidates may offer other answers that could be equally valid.

Note

LCCIEB reserves the right not to produce an Examiner’s Report, either for an examination paper as awhole or for individual questions, if too few candidates were involved to make an Examiner’s Reportmeaningful.

© LCCI CET 2001

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the Publisher. The book may not be lent, resold, hired out orotherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover, other than that in which it ispublished, without the prior consent of the Publisher.

Typeset, printed and bound by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examinations Board.

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GENERAL COMMENTS

The Examiners reported that the overall standard of performance was very encouraging. Only a verysmall number of candidates failed to complete the paper and the vast majority of candidates wereaware of the convention of layout of business documents. Most candidates realised that goodresponses in business documents are concise and only a small number of candidates produced textthat was too long and verbose.

The standard of English was generally very good. There were still errors in grammar, particularly inthe person and tense of verbs, but the concise style that was usually adopted meant that it was rarethat an over-ambitious and over-elaborate sentence construction was used.

Candidates still have some difficulties with non-countable nouns and the fact that such nouns as ‘staff’and ‘information’ do not take a final ‘s’ as no plural form exists.

It was pleasing to see that many candidates produced first versions of answers before producing aversion to be marked. However, all rough work must be crossed out so it is clear which answersshould be marked.

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QUESTION 1

Situation

You work for Ascot plc, a producer of china and pottery products in the United Kingdom. The companyexports a wide range of its products to countries in all parts of the world. Ascot plc prides itself on itshigh quality products and the excellent service it provides for customers. One of your jobs is torespond to complaints from customers.

This morning, the Sales Manager, Mr Alan Ferguson shows you the following letter:

BOZENA STORESMajuakov Skeho 985132 Bratislava

Slovakia

7 March 2001

Dear Sir or Madam

We are new customers of Ascot plc but I regret to say that we now do not wish to continue to tradewith you.

We have been extremely disappointed with the service we have received from your representative inSlovakia. This gentleman recently cancelled 2 appointments to visit us at short notice, and when hedid visit us on 30 January he appeared to be in such a hurry that he did not have time to describe thefull range of your products. We learned later that you have produced a new range of fine qualitytableware that would have interested us.

The price list that he left with us was out of date and the representative made a number of errors inthe order we gave him. We have tried to contact this gentleman by telephone but despite the factthat we have left several messages on his answerphone he has not responded.

We have since been visited by a representative of another British company, Toptable plc, who dealtwith our queries in a highly professional manner. We have decided to trade with this company infuture and therefore we do not wish to have any further contact with Ascot plc.

Yours faithfully

Valeria Tyrolova

Valeria Tyrolova (Ms)(Sales Manager)

Mr Ferguson is very angry and says to you:

"I hoped we had heard the last of the problems that this representative brought about in EasternEurope. You might remember that he caused no end of trouble and we sacked him eventually. In fact,the visit to Bozena Stores was one of the last he made for us.

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QUESTION 1 CONTINUED

Please write to Ms Tyrolova. There's no excuse for what happened but explain to her what we havedone since then. We have appointed a new representative, Pavel Klos, who is based in Prague.Pavel will represent us in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and I know that everyone will find him tobe very efficient and courteous. Mention that they will have heard of him - he played in goal for theCzechoslovakian national football team for many years, and for the club side Slovan Bratislava. Ihope his reputation will do us a bit of good.

You can send her a copy of our latest catalogue and maybe offer a discount on the next order. I'llleave it to you."

Task Write an appropriate letter to Ms Tyrolova. You can assume your company's headednotepaper is used.

(25 marks)

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Model Answer to Question 1

Headed Paper

13 March 2001

Ms Valeria TyrolovaSales ManagerBozena StoresMajuakov Skeho 985132 BratislavaSlovakia

Dear Ms Tyrolova

New Sales Representative in Slovakia

Thank you for your letter of 7 March. I am extremely sorry about the service you received from ourrepresentative. There is not excuse for his behaviour and I must apologise for this.

I can tell you, however, that this person is no longer working for us and the problems you faced willnever reoccur. Our new representative, Pavel Klos, is very experienced and I am sure you will findhim to be particularly courteous and efficient should you wish to trade with us again. You will almostcertainly have heard of Pavel, as he was a highly regarded goalkeeper for Slovan Bratislava and thenational football team for many years. Pavel is always willing to spend some time talking about hiscareer to our customers.

I hope you will reconsider your decision and continue to trade with us. We have just introduced ournew range of products, including our fine tableware. We have had a very favourable reaction to thisand I enclose a fully up-to-date catalogue.

I do realise that our service has been less than satisfactory and so I would like to offer a 10% discounton your next order.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely

5C7π™;*;π©‘

A Candidate(Customer Relations Department)

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Examiner’s Report on Question 1

There were very few errors in letter layout and conventions. A small number of candidates usedsalutations and closes that did not agree; as Ms Tyrolova’s name was known, it was appropriate toopen with ‘Dear Ms Tyrolova’, (‘Dear Valeria’ was almost certainly too familiar in this context) so theclose has to be ‘Yours sincerely’.

Most candidates adopted a suitably apologetic tone and attempted to persuade Ms Tyrolova toreconsider her decision to end the trade relationship.

Some candidates made little attempt to paraphrase Mr Ferguson’s conversation with ‘you’. Some ofthis clearly was meant for your benefit and should not have been quoted, particularly the phrase‘I hope his reputation will do us a bit of good’.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Do not waste time devising letterheads. You can assume you are using headed paper.

• Check that your opening and close are in agreement.

• Use your own words to paraphrase instructions in an appropriate style.

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QUESTION 2

Situation

You work for a small company, Kidcraft, in your area. Kidcraft produces and sells high qualitychildren's toys. It has sold some toys worldwide by means of mail order but most of its business isdone through its shop in your town. The company is traditional in its outlook and has not yet madeuse of the Internet or e-commerce when advertising or selling its products.

The Sales Director, Mr Manuel Martinez, has taken the view that the company is not large enough tobenefit from a website on the Internet, and can see little value in e-commerce. However, he haslearned recently that many other small businesses in your area have become connected to the WorldWide Web and he does not wish to disadvantage Kidcraft by remaining outside of it.

Mr Martinez does not know what the Internet can offer to the small business, and he has asked you toinvestigate if Kidcraft could benefit from being connected to the Web. You have carried out someinvestigations in order to produce a report and your findings appear below.

From recent Business Magazine

E-commerce

Trading by means of the Internet is becoming big business. In the USA, the world leader, about60% of the population now purchase by this means at least once every year and figures similar tothis are likely to be achieved in many other parts of the world during the next decade.

Whether a company is large or small makes little difference to the e-commerce potential but what isknown as the 'feelie factor' has a large effect.

Products which customers have to feel, touch, or try on, will never be sold very easily through theInternet, but most products can be sold by means of a picture and/or text.

From an interview with comparable businesses

"We created a website to promote our products, but we have not yet started trading throughe-commerce. This has raised our profile enormously." (Veena plc)

"Since we started our e-commerce business, our sales have increased by 33% each year."(ML Toys)

"Our initial investment in creating a site was recouped in a month." (Toyco)

"You need to know what you are doing, and you must get expert help." (Puk Lo Toy Company)

"We did not know how successful our site was until we installed a 'hit counter' which measured thenumber of visitors to the site. We were amazed how many people visited us." (Kharma Toys)

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From Advertisement for Massive Multiactive

Why not use Massive Multiactive to create your own website? We provide you with a CD Rom thatoffers you over 500 templates to allow you to establish your own website with as many features asyou require. We supply an easy-to-follow program which provides prompts for all your information.You enter your company details, choose your colour scheme and company image, select your webaddress and all the work is done for you. We charge 500 US dollars or the equivalent in anycurrency.

From your local business advisory service

"Our office can provide a range of services for those wishing to set up a website, but you mustanswer a simple question first. Do you want to promote your company on the Internet or do youwish to trade through your site? If promotion is all you require you can easily set up pages ofinformation, price lists and all you then need to do is update this regularly. However, if you wish totrade through the Internet you must set up a catalogue and ordering system to accept orders andenquiries. You need to consider how to deal with international currencies and the various taxsystems of different countries. This need not be very complicated but you do need to takeprofessional advice. You should also make sure your site is connected to what are called ‘searchengines’. You choose a key word and this goes into a massive index that visitors can access, toenable them to find your site."

Task Write the report for Mr Martinez and make any appropriate recommendations.(25 marks)

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To: Mr Manuel Martinez, Sales DirectorFrom: A CandidateDate: 13 March 2001Subject: SETTING UP A WEBSITE FOR KIDCRAFT

Introduction

I was asked to carry out investigations in order to produce a report on whether Kidcraft shouldestablish a site on the World Wide Web. I considered published information, I spoke to businessessimilar to our own but with web experience, I acquired some information from a company whichcreates web sites and I took advice from the local business advisory service.

Findings

There are two types of web site:

1 Promotional Web Sites:These sites are used to promote the products of a company. They are simple to create and onlyrequire regular updates. Experience indicates that they raise the profile of companies.

2 E-commerce sites:These provide sites which potential customers can access to order products. The are particularlyappropriate for selling goods that can be sold by means of picture and/or text (our products fallwithin this category) and although such sites are more complex to set-up and maintain,experience indicates that well created sites can improve sales dramatically and quickly cover anyinitial investment.

Recommendations

1 I suggest that Kidcraft should set up an e-commerce web site. This form of trading is growingenormously world wide.

2 The site can best be created from the Massive Multiactive CD Rom package that is available forthe local equivalent of 500 US dollars. This package gives easy-to-follow instructions on how toset up the site and a range of templates to create a professional end product.

3 The company should take advice from the local business advisory service on how to deal with thefinancial aspects of world wide e-commerce.

4 The company should link the site to ‘search engines’ to help to attract visitors.

5 The company should install a ‘hit-counter’ to maintain a check on the number of visitors.

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Once again, most candidates used a sensible and appropriate layout and format. Recommendationswere specifically requested but there was no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer; any recommendations that wereconsistent with what was stated in report were acceptable.

Some candidates produced a basic summary of the information given. More successful reportsgrouped ideas and information from all four paragraphs and were selective on what was included.If this correct approach is adopted then it would be impossible to produce a report without makingextensive notes.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Remember – there is no standard format for a report, as long as information is grouped intosections and extensive use is made of headings and sub-headings.

• A report is not a summary. Gather the information from all the information given and group thisbefore producing the report.

• Be selective. Not all information given is relevant to the task.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE13

QUESTION 3

Situation

You work for a very successful business, Brush Off, in your area. Brush Off provides a range ofspecialist paints and finishes for industrial and domestic use and has grown by an average of 25% ineach of the last three years. The company is now considering how it might expand and spread toother countries. Your Managing Director has heard that a system called franchising is becoming verypopular and has asked you to investigate this system. You have gathered some information on thistopic in order to answer a number of questions that Brush Off's directors have asked. Thesequestions follow the information you have gathered.

From World Wide Federation of Franchises website

Franchising involves a company licensing out its name and range of products to individuals whothen trade under that company's name in a particular area. Usually franchises are limited to givethe individual sole rights in one particular locality. Franchisers, the companies hiring out their name,gain the chance to expand their enterprises much more rapidly than if they used only their ownsources of capital and franchisees, those who take up the licences, gain the opportunity to developtheir own business using an already successful product or formula. Both parties are decreasing therisks associated with business ventures.

The relationship between franchiser and franchisee will vary depending on the product. The parentcompany might charge a start-up fee or take a proportion of the franchisee's profits. Mostfranchisers offer advice and guidance and often insist that the franchisee buys a proportion of itsraw materials from the parent company. This ensures the consistent quality of the final product aswell as boosting the profits of the franchiser.

Notes from the International Franchise Year Book

Franchise - American idea - in USA one-third of all retail sales made through franchised firms.

Franchising now increasing all over the world. Sales of franchised goods rose by 6% in Europe in1999 - number of franchises doubled in Japan since 1993.

Internationally - 5% of franchises fail in first year of trading - 33% of businesses as a whole fail in firstyear.

Best known examples so far - McDonalds (fast food chain), Body Shop (cosmetics and healthproducts), Chronopost (subsidiary of French post office), Prontaprint (printing/copying).

Interview with Managing Director of Tubeclear, a plumbing business in your area thatexpanded through offering franchising.

"I have no regrets about using franchising to grow. Basically, we have expanded using other people'smoney, although all of our franchisees have benefited from our research and start-up costs. We havechanged our policy, however. We started by charging very little for a licence and asking for a highproportion of profits. Although many of our franchisees were, and still are, successful, too many didnot have the experience or the expertise to make a success of the business and we found that ourreputation was being damaged by the high level of failure of franchisees. We now charge a muchhigher start-up fee and scrutinise all applications very carefully. We also provide much more supportin the first year. We then demand a lower on-going fee but we find that most of our franchiseessurvive and prosper, so everyone benefits in the long run."

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Task Answer the following questions, in your own words as far as possible, to showunderstanding of the information given:

(1) What is meant by franchising?(4 marks)

(2) What are the advantages of franchising to the franchiser?(3 marks)

(3) What are the advantages to the franchisee?(3 marks)

(4) Where did the franchising idea originate?(1 mark)

(5) What evidence is there to indicate that franchising is growing worldwide?(2 marks)

(6) How many franchisees fail in comparison with new business as a whole?(2 marks)

(7) Why should a franchiser demand that the franchisee buys its raw materials from the parentcompany?

(2 marks)

(8) Why did Tubeclear change its franchising policy?(3 marks)

(9) If Brush Off, your company, is to offer franchises, should it demand a high start-up fee and lowprofit shares, or a low start-up fee and high profit shares? (Give reasons for your answer.)

(5 marks)

(Total 25 marks)

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Suitable answers would be:

1 Franchising involves an established company hiring out its name and range of products to peoplewho then run their own business under the parent company name in a particular locality.

2 A company can expand rapidly without using its own source of finance, and without risking losingits capital.

3 A franchisee can develop his/her own business but with a well known name and product. His/herrisks are then lower.

4 U.S.A.

5 Sales of franchised goods rose by 6% in Europe in 1999. Number of franchisees has doubled inJapan since 1993.

6 Only 5% of franchisees fail in their first year of trading compared with 33% of all new businesseswhich fail in their first year.

7 This can ensure that the product sold is of suitable quality and it also boosts the profits of theparent company.

8 Tubeclear changed from demanding a low start-up fee and high share of profit, because it wasattracting the wrong type of franchisee. Franchisees who did not have to find a large initialinvestment were often insufficiently experienced or knowledgeable.

9 I believe that Brush Off should offer a franchise package with a relatively high start-up fee butthen demand a low share of the profit. This will deter all but the most dedicated and wellprepared franchisees but will enable the company to offer a high level of support to its newlyestablished franchises.


This question usually discriminates between these with a stronger and a weaker command of Englishas it demands a high level of understanding and a concise response. On this occasion, mostcandidates displayed a good understanding of the issues raised and were able to produce sensibleresponses.

Some of the regular errors were still displayed. A small number of candidates simply ‘lifted’ sections ofthe original material whereas some selection and interpretation is always required. Also a smallnumber of candidates continue to ignore the mark allocation for each question and produced lengthyanswers to questions with few marks and brief answers to highly rewarded questions.

Part 9 posed some problems. Some candidates listed the policy which should be adopted but eithergave no reason for this or gave a vague non-specific answer such as ‘because this would be best’.This question carried 5 marks so clearly a more developed answer was required.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Pay attention to the mark allocation to each question as a guide to the length and depth of yourresponse.

• Use your own words in answering questions, unless this is impractical (eg for proper nouns orfigures).

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QUESTION 4

Situation

You work in the Sales Department of a large organisation. You supervise the work of a team of staffwho visit companies all over your country, and sometimes overseas, to sell your organisation'sproducts. The Sales Staff have recently been issued with updated laptop computers. Two days afterthese were issued, a member of staff gave you the following theft report:

Report of loss of laptop computer

To Supervisor, Sales Department

From Edwin Fang

Date 8 March 2001

At 1400 yesterday I left my car in the large car park in the shopping precinct in Main Street,Bridgetown in order to visit CP Stores. I have often used this car park when I visit Bridgetown andI have never encountered any problems. When I returned to the car park at 1500 I noticed that therear window had been broken and the laptop computer I had left on the back seat had been stolen.I asked the car park attendant if he had seen anyone near the car but he had not. I reported thetheft to the Bridgetown police and took the car to a local garage for repairs.

This morning the following newspaper article attracted your attention:

LAPTOP LUNACY

Did you know why the United States Military Command had to change its strategic plan at greatcost? Why did a television producer have to rewrite the ending of a serial? Why did a prisongovernor have to revise the prison's whole security plans? All of these involved confidentialinformation held on laptop computers which were stolen.

Police all over the world report that laptop theft is now very common. Thieves are probablyattracted by the machines themselves; they are small, easily carried and can fetch a good price.However, stolen laptops often contain information that is personal, confidential, sensitive or even topsecret. Also, laptop users might not know that if they lose such information, they could even bebreaking the law, as people who store information that should not be made public must take'reasonable precautions' to protect it. Leaving it on a laptop that can be stolen is often not seen asreasonable."

You contact the Head of Security who tells you the following:

"Yes, laptops are a target for thieves. All I can recommend is that everyone takes care. You shouldkeep yours with you all the time. If you have to leave one in a car (you should avoid this if you can,of course) lock it in the boot. If you use it in public, don't leave it unattended.

We do offer a new service called encryption now. We can encrypt your laptop hard disk whichmeans it is impossible for anyone to make sense of the information without a special softwaredecryption key. It doesn't make the equipment safe from theft, but it does protect the informationheld on it. It's not expensive and my department will be happy to do this for anyone."

Task Draft a memo to all sales staff about possible laptop theft and what they should do about it.(25 marks)

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MEMORANDUM

To: All staffFrom: A CandidateDate: 13 March 2001

Security of Laptop Computers

I hope you are finding that the latest laptop computers that were issued to you are assisting you inyour work. They are the most up-to-date models available but I should point out that this increases therisks involved with security of the equipment.

It has been brought to my attention that laptops are now a particular target for thieves. They are small,portable and there is a big market for stolen laptops. A colleague has already found this out as amachine was stolen from his car which was parked in a shopping precinct.

I would ask you to be vigilant, not only because the machines are expensive but because of thesensitive or confidential material that could be on the hard drives. The law is quite clear, that you havea duty of care of such information and you could be in legal trouble if you do not take reasonable stepsto protect the information on the hard drive. There have been a number of prominent cases of highlyconfidential commercial or military information contained on a hard drive being stolen with themachine, which then forced elaborate changes to be made to original plans.

I suggest that you are particularly careful with your laptops and take sensible precautions. If you haveto leave your machine in your car, make sure it is locked in the boot. You can also protect anyinformation on your hard drive by taking advantage of the encryption service now offered by ourSecurity Department. Access can be restricted to those with a special key. The Security Departmentwill be happy to arrange this service for you. It will not prevent the machine being stolen but it willensure that no-one else can make sense of the material on the hard drive.

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Among some generally strong scripts, there were some disappointing answers to this question.Perhaps as this was the last question, some candidates left insufficient time.

Many candidates did not stress that there are two dangers to laptop theft, the loss of valuableequipment and the loss of sensitive information held on the hard disk. Some failed to mentionencryption or the reason for it.

Some candidates again produced a summary of all the material in the order given. This is areformulation question which requires the selection and reorganisation of material.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Remember this is a reformulation question. Select material carefully, put it in order and convert itto a consistent and suitable style.

• Keep in mind that this question carries 25 marks. Leave sufficient time to be able to devotesufficient time to it.

Education Development International plc The Old School Holly Walk Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 4GL United Kingdom

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EfB Level 3 Model Answers Series 1 2001

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Transcript of EfB Level 3 Model Answers Series 1 2001