VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HO CHI MINH CITY Student’s full name: ............................................................

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE Student ID: .........................................................................
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSLATION AND Class: ..................................................................................
INTERPRETING Instructor: .........................................................................

FINAL EXAMINATION
Course: BUSINESS ENGLISH

Time Allotted: 90 minutes Exam Date: _______

Department Proctor 1 Examiner 1 Exam Score (100 %)

Chair

Proctor 2 Examiner 2

Note: No materials or dictionaries are allowed.

______________________________________________________________________

PART I: VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS (30 pts)

1/ Match each word/phrase in Column A with its definition/explanation in Column B.

Write your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (20 pts)

A B
1. gross margin A. the reduction in value of a fixed asset during the years it is in use
2. liabilities B. when you buy a product, you are recommended to buy another
product that may go with it
3. turnover C. (the value of) raw materials, work in progress, and finished products
stored ready for sale
4. assets D. the various expenses of operating a business that cannot be charged
to any product, process or department, i.e. not directly related to
production
5. depreciation E. when famous people recommend a product
6. cross-promotion F. a good period for sellers, when prices are rising very quickly
7. product endorsement G. selling price minus direct production costs
8. stock (BrE) or inventory H. all the money a company will have to pay to someone else in the
(AmeE) future
9. overheads (BrE) or I. a product with the retailer’s own name on it
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overhead (AmeE)
10. deep discounter
11. price boom
12. product placement
13. own-brand product (BrE)
or own-label product (AmeE)
14. balance sheet
15. current assets
16. niche market
17. commodity product
18. lifestyle product
19. price sensitive
20. delegation
J. money received from sales
K. a picture of a company’s assets and liabilities at the end of a
particular period, usually the 12-month period of its financial year
L. money in the bank, investments that can easily be turned into money,
money that customers owe, stocks of goods that are going to be sold
M. authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions
N. a specialist market or product which caters for a small number of
customers
O. when a company pays for its products to be seen in films and TV
programs
P. a product that is the opposite of a commodity product. Consumers are
mainly influenced by its ‘feel good factor’.
Q. refers to customers who are highly sensitive to price changes, so if
there is a small increase in price, there will be a large drop in demand.
R. a supermarket with very low prices
S. a product that is very similar to other competitors’ products
T. anything owned by a business (cash investment, buildings, machines,
and so on) that can be used to produce goods or pay liabilities

2/ What would you say in the following situations? Write your answers on the ANSWER
SHEET. (10 pts)

1. You have to go and work in another country. Ask one question about your new job.
_________________________________________________________________________

2. Someone sitting next to you in a conference makes a positive comment on the presenter’s speech. Show
your interest in your response.
_________________________________________________________________________

3. At the end of a meeting, express the good feeling in working with your partner and wish him/her a
good journey.
_________________________________________________________________________

4. You are interviewing some candidates for the position of HR Manager. What one question would you
ask your interviewees?
_________________________________________________________________________

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5. During a negotiation, what would you say to bring the price down?
_________________________________________________________________________

PART II: READING (30 pts)

Read the following article about Kellogg company and do the two exercises below.

The Kellogg company was founded in 1898 by W.K. Kellogg and his brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.
Through experimentation with flaked corn, W.K. Kellogg created the recipe for Corn Flakes. In 1906, he
opened the “Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company” and recruited his first 44 employees. Together
with these employees he developed the initial batch of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes bringing to life his vision
for great-tasting, ‘better-for-you’ breakfast foods.

Kellogg embraced every opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives and was motivated by his
passion to help people improve their health. Today, over a hundred years since it was first founded, the
Kellogg company still upholds his original values. The company is the world’s leading producer of
cereals and a market leader in health and nutrition. Kellogg’s was one of the first companies to print
nutrition labels on its packaging and, in 2007, was amongst the first companies to print Guideline Daily
Amounts (GDA) on its products to inform the public about the food they are eating. This has helped the
company to engage with a market more concerned with healthy living.

With a vision ‘to enrich and delight the world, through foods and brands that matter’, Kellogg’s employs
over 31,000 people worldwide. Its products are manufactured in 18 countries and sold in over 180
countries. Kellogg’s well known cereal brands include Coco Pops®, Rice Krispies®, Crunchy Nut® and
Special K®. With a 37% market share of the value of the UK’s breakfast cereal market, Kellogg’s has a
wide range of products including 25 brands of cereals, cereal bars, and snacks.

The food manufacturing sector is highly competitive, with consumers having considerable choice over
which products they buy. For Kellogg’s to remain as market leader it needs innovative marketing
strategies to help ensure that it is manufacturing the right products to meet consumer needs, that the
products are sold at the right price and in the right locations (place) and that the promotion of its
products is suited to the target audience. This is known as the marketing mix and is often referred to as the
4Ps of marketing.

Kellogg’s balances the 4Ps by:

• offering a wide range of popular products and regularly introducing exciting new products to the market
– Product
• pricing its products to ensure that customers receive the best possible product for their money – Price
• ensuring its products are available wherever shoppers are, from supermarkets, to the internet or on-the-
go, and by understanding shopper behaviours – Place
• delivering engaging and exciting marketing communications – Promotion.

Every business will determine its own balance of the 4Ps to suit the needs of its customers. In addition, a
business needs to incorporate other factors into the mix; internal factors such as the amount of finance for
marketing, the types of products being sold, as well as external factors such as the market sector and
competitors’ products and services.

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1/ On the ANSWER SHEET, write T if the following statements are true and F if they
are false. (20pts)

1. _____ Kellogg’s first product was Coco Pops®.

2. _____ Kellogg’s great concern was to help improve people’s health.
3. _____ After more than a century of operation, Kellogg company no longer supports the founder’s
values.
4. _____ In 2007, Kellogg company printed Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) on its products to advertise
them.
5. _____ Kellogg’s is a multinational company.
6. _____ Kellogg company has the biggest share in the market of health and nutrition.
7. _____ Kellogg company has a well-established status in the food manufacturing sector, so it doesn’t
have to innovate its marketing strategies.
8. _____ Kellogg company often launches new products to the market.
9. _____ Kellogg company uses a premium pricing strategy.
10. ____ Kellogg’s channels of distribution are both direct and indirect.

2/ On the ANSWER SHEET, write your brief answers to the following questions. (10pts)
1. What was the company first named?
___________________________________________________________________________________

2. In what ways does the Kellogg company engage itself in a market more concerned with healthy living?
___________________________________________________________________________________

3. How many people work for Kellogg’s?

___________________________________________________________________________________

4. How does the Kellogg company promote its products?

___________________________________________________________________________________

5. Besides the balance of the 4Ps, what else does a business need to do?
___________________________________________________________________________________

PART III: CASE STUDY / WRITING (40 pts)

1/ CASE STUDY (20pts): Read the case “From Loyalty to Employability: Managing
Today’s Workforce” and answer the questions below.

Most workplaces used to rely on an unwritten and implicit understanding that loyalty paid off. Workers
understood that if they hung in and did a decent job, they could expect steady employment, if not wage
increases and promotions. This loyalty concept has largely been swept away by business practices such as
downsizing and outsourcing*. In the place of loyalty, workers now focus on employability*. In other
words, workers understand that there is no guarantee of continued employment. Even the most stable job
could be swept away in a restructuring and end up as a temporary position. It is only rational then that
many of today’s workers place great value on maintaining and developing their skills. Loyalty and
commitment are no longer relevant issues. Stability may not be possible, but personal growth and learning
at work can make the worker more employable. Challenge and growth opportunities can pay off for
workers in increased employability.

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* Outsourcing is a practice used by different companies to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to outside suppliers
rather than completing it internally.
* Employability can be defined as “doing value creating work, getting paid for it and learning at the same time, enhancing the
ability to get work in the future”.

1. As a manager, what could you do to offer “employability” to your workers?

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

2. By developing workers’ employability, employers could lose employees to other job opportunities.
Does this mean that employees should not be offered development opportunities?
____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

2/ WRITING (20pts):
You work in the Sales Department of Delicacy Bakery. Write an email to all staff of your department
about the upcoming department meeting. The email should include the following information (and add
any relevant details):
- Reason for the meeting: to report sales of the previous month and to discuss the new sales plan
- Request: all members must prepare a sales report (5-minute presentation/each) + Q&A
- Venue: Conference Room A, first floor, with beverage, fruit and cakes
- Date: January 8, 2017

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