Unit 2 Corporate image Progress Test

Name: _______________________________

Part 1 Reading

Task 1 (13 points)

Read the article below about creating a strong corporate image.

Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap.
There is an example at the beginning, (0).

Creating a strong corporate image

A corporate image is the public's perception of what your company (0) _____B_____. It is essentially
the ‘personality’ of your organization and it is what differentiates you from the competition and
establishes you in the business world. Developing a good corporate image doesn't just happen, it takes
years and sometimes decades to promote. It is ‘a series of proactive choices that
(1) ________________. an end result.’ It should go without saying that you need, first and foremost,
to ensure they your company product or service is something to be proud of, since is the primary
generator of your image. However, beyond this, there are several key components to creating and
maintaining a good corporate image.

Ethics
Whatever the company does should have an ethical underpinning from top to bottom. This requires
more than simply creating a series of ethical policies and procedures. Your ethics need to be an
(2) ______________ part of the company culture: the company will do the right thing regardless of the
result. Key to (3) ______________ this ethical framework is establishing a system of checks and
balances and reporting mechanisms that clearly lay out the (4) ______________ of breaking these
rules.

Communication and consistency

The (5) ______________ to effectively establishing an ethical culture, and to every element of
developing a good corporate image, is good communication. This part of image development
(6) ______________ not only to a company's management and lower level employees, but also to
external stakeholders (such as customers, vendors, shareholders, etc.) and the public in general. Strong
consideration should be given to developing a separate strategic communication plan to
(7) ______________ this task. However, in order for communication to be successful, your corporate
image must be clear and consistent with the products and services you have to offer, the benefits you
provide to your target audience and how you (8) ______________ them. If your positioning statement
indicates that your products are aimed at retirees, for example then you must make sure you are
communicating with retirees: your corporate image must (9) ______________ on this audience.

Maintaining credibility
It is essential at all costs to (10) ______________ your credibility in the market and in minds of your
customers by demonstrating that you do what you say you will do. If you are a charitable organization,
for example, then spending thousands of dollars on elaborate conferences and high-end salaries will
end up discrediting your image. Similarly, if you are trying to create an image of environmental
concern, you will need to invest in ensuring that your products or services have (11) ______________
environmental credentials.

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Advertising and the media
You need to align your advertising strategy with the image you want to create. If you are focused on
an image of caring and compassionate healthcare, for example, then focusing on the technology for
delivery of healthcare services will distract from the image of compassion. It sounds obvious, but it is
surprising how often companies (12) ______________ with such an anomalies. In addition to its own
advertising, an organization should set up a permanent structure for monitoring the various media and
gathering information about how it is portrayed. A company has to know where it stands in the eyes of
its beholders in order to respond to any given situation.

Alignment with similar values

Finally, it is important that you partner or align yourself with other organizations and people who
share your corporate values. The saying that ‘We are judged by the company we keep’ is especially
true in creating a corporate image. The people, partnerships, and other businesses you deal with will
either help to (13) ______________ your image or destroy it.

0 a) portrays b) stands for c) means d) indicates

1 a) make b) result in c) come to d) lead to
2 a) innate b) integral c) inherent d) inner
3 a) putting up b) setting up c) being d) doing
4 a) consequences b) actions c) possibilities d) procedures
5 a) answer b) solution c) key d) result
6 a) touches b) goes c) reaches d) extends
7 a) make b) put c) carry out d) start
8 a) benefit b) position c) sell d) place
9 a) focus b) target c) direct d) look
10 a) create b) keep c) maintain d) make
11 a) imaginable b) impossible c) incredible d) impeccable
12 a) give themselves b) let themselves c) betray d) disappoint
away down themselves
13 a) strength b) show c) reinforce d) emphasize

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Task 2 (7 points)

Read the text below about the future of corporate philanthropy.

Choose the best sentence from the list to fill each of the gaps and mark a letter a) – h).
Do not use any letter more than once.
There is an example at the beginning, (0).

The future of corporate philanthropy

Some of the biggest and most powerful companies in the world today are becoming almost as well
known for their high-profile corporate social responsibility initiatives as for their products and
services. Some are cynical about the motivations for this. (0)_____E_____. He maintains that
corporate social philanthropic activities have become ‘heavily promoted story tools that present a
deliberately over-inflated image of corporate citizenship’. What is more worrying still is that all this
activity has effectively served as smoke screen to hide a significant fall off in corporate charitable
contributions worldwide. (1) ______________ Business charitable deductions now only average about
0.7% of pre-tax earnings.

As ‘real’ contributions to charitable causes diminish, Hindery laments the fact that so many CEOs
have failed to understand the fact that an effectively managed contribution program can deliver strong
returns to a corporation. He maintains that if company donations are directed to nonprofit groups
closely aligned with the interests of the corporation's business objectives and the community context in
which it operates, they can become a powerful business tool. (2) ______________ Examples of this
kind of ‘strategic’ corporate philanthropy would include, for example, financial literacy programs
supported by financial institutions, or health and wellness programs funded by pharmaceutical
companies (3) ______________ Moreover, the kind of multiple-stakeholder participation such
initiatives require and generate can become a powerful social force and an agent for positive change.

(4) ______________ Contributions that are purely selfish in their intent, for example, that are
designed only to bolster the bottom line, or to support pet projects of senior managers or board
members, do not, again according to Hindery, ‘satisfy the requirements of good corporate citizenship.’
(5) ______________ In other words, when a business gets too ‘strategic’; in its giving, this will often
result in it cutting its overall contribution rather than, for example, deciding to focus on one or two
strategic causes.

Then there are those who would advocate the abolition of corporate philanthropy altogether.
(6) ______________ They would argue that because corporations are constantly pushing against the
limits imposed by society in pursuit of profits they will never make good citizens and should not be
treated as citizens. (7) ______________ Given the bottom-line driven world we live in, it seems
unlikely that the current state of corporate giving is unlikely to change any time soon.

A Without any additional promotional effort by the company concerned, such programs often
end up elevating awareness of the brand to the same degree as for the cause.

B There is also the danger that strategic philanthropy is actually at the root of the downward
trend in contributions to charity.

C Of course, for acts of corporate philanthropy to become solely about advancing the interests
of the company, would be a contradiction in terms

D They should not be regulated or boycotted into doing the right thing.

E Leo Hindery Jr, Chairman of the Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America

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Foundation believes that, increasingly, companies exploit their corporate social responsibility
initiatives for promotional purposes.

F Whereas 25 years ago, business allocated on average 2% of their pre-tax profits in gifts and
grants, today companies are only one third as generous.

G In such cases a donation, of for example, 1% of pretax earnings, begin, as Hindery says to
‘take on the look and feel of an investment, not a handout.’

H They include, for example, the acolytes of Friedman who continue to believe that a
company should only be responsible to its shareholders.

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Part 2 Writing

Task 1 (5 points)

Your company is updating its corporate responsibility programme and you have been
asked to write a proposal for how the company could improve its environmentally-
friendly operating policies.

Include the following:

• a brief outline of any current environmentally friendly policies in your department

• a description of what improvements could be made
• an explanation of the benefits these changes might bring
• recommendations for how to implement the changes.

Write 150-170 words in the space below.

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Task 2 (5 points)

You work in the press office of Occa Oil.

The company is going to be opening new oil fields in the politically and environmentally
sensitive Duba region of southern Choga.
Use the information below to write a press release announcing these plans.

Where Duba region of Southern Choga (Central West Africa), a politically

and environmentally sensitive area (poor, under-developed, rich in
natural resources and virgin rainforest).

What 287 production wells, 1000km of buried pipeline (mainly running

through Cameroon to the coast), four 12,000 BHP pumping stations
500 km of road upgrades, 4 locomotive upgrades, offshore tanker
facilities.
Production is expected to be about 225,000 barrels per day. The
consortium (40% Occa Oil, 40% Shill and 20% Alf) is negotiating
joint venture arrangements with the host countries of Chad and
Cameroon (through which most of the pipeline will travel).

Additional funding US $350 million Corporate welfare funding from the World Bank.

Time frame Construction to begin next spring – oil production possible within
36 months.

Write 200 – 250 words in the space below.

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Part 3 Listening

Task 1 (7 points)
(Recording 1.14)

You will hear a discussion about how McDonalds has been changing its corporate image.
For each question 1 – 6 choose a), b) or c) as the correct answer.
You will hear the recording twice.

1 Tim Lang believes that the McDonald’s new concern for the environment is:
a) greenwash.
b) temporary, they have no intention of sustaining it.
c) genuine, but they are going to find it challenging to sustain.

2 McDonalds have demonstrated a greater concern for the environment by:

a) maintaining their prices.
b) committing to more sustainable food sources.
c) reducing the amount of meat on their menus.

3 Rises in energy, oil, water and food commodity prices:

a) don’t have much effect on the big food companies.
b) will affect everyone in the food supply chain, but particularly meat purveyors.
c) will only really affect fast food companies.

4 According to the speaker, consumers:

a) are cynical about McDonalds but this doesn’t stop them eating there.
b) still eat at McDonalds but tend to be embarrassed and defensive about it.
c) have become cynical about the corporate food industry and this is affecting
McDonalds’s sales.

5 Giles Gibbons believes that McDonald’s efforts to re-brand itself:

a) have improved sales, at least in the short term, but not really convinced consumers.
b) have only partly succeeded, due to weak leadership.
c) have failed because the re-branding hasn’t helped sales to recover.

6 The consultancy team responsible for the re-branding of McDonalds in the UK:
a) is supported by Prince Charles.
b) was responsible for rebranding the Conservative party.
c) was created by Steve Hilton, the man responsible for PR for the Conservative party.

7 McDonalds is thriving because:

a) people no longer care about of the causes of obesity and environmental degradation.
b) people have understood that obesity and environmental degradation are not the fault
of the fast food industry.
c) people have understood that all fast food companies share equal responsible for the
problems associated with the industry.

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Task 2 (8 points)
(Recording 1.16 – 1.21)

You are going to hear a talk about corporate social responsibility.

Complete the phrases.
You will hear the recording twice.

1 Minimizing the company’s ..................................................................., particularly

around highly visible aspects of its operations, is a particularly popular tactic.
(2 words)

2 Donating to charities is a simple and .....................................................................

................... ..........................................for a company to demonstrate its
commitment to CSR.
(3 words)

3 The Ronald McDonald houses and the Reebok Human Rights Awards are
................................................................................................ of CSR initiatives.
(3 words)

4 Corporate giving is more easily dismissed as ................................................

...........................than other forms of corporate social responsibility.
(3 words)

5 ..................................................................,.................................... such as
Tesco’s ‘computers for schools’ promotion, is a partnership between a
company and a charity.
(3 words)

6 Corporate codes of conduct are .....................................................................

....................... a company’s ‘values’ and standards of behaviour.
(3 words)

7 Many companies develop community projects to ............................................

................................................................. or ‘give back’ to the community
and local workforce.
(3 words)

8 Community investment covers a ..................................................................,

including running health programmes, sponsoring schools, employee volunteering
programmes, etc.
(4 words)

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Part 4 Speaking (5 points)

Prepare a one-minute presentation on one of these topics.

You have one minute to prepare your talk.
You may make notes.

• Strategies for developing a good corporate image

• What is corporate social responsibility?

• Successful time management

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