Tag Archive: business news – intermediate

Pre-reading questions: What do you think CEOs or corporate leaders do? How frequent do you see your boss at work? Have you experience doubting your corporate leader? Edelman, a PR Firm from the US, reveals a survey about the public’s trust in corporate leaders. Among the 28 countries covered, Japan ranked last, revealing only 18% in the Trust Barometer survey. People in industrialized countries are more doubtful with their CEOs since greater economy usually leads to manpower reduction. Edelman Japan noted that the Japanese society are in doubt because they usually have low chances of seeing what a corporate leader thinks or does. CEOs like Carlos Ghosn of Nissan Motor…
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  Pre-reading questions: What for you is the happiest place on earth? What words best describe Disneyland? What’s the best theme park you’ve been to?   Disneyland is popular for its magical theme that people of all ages find it fascinating. Millions of tourist around the world visit the place each year. Recently, the company announced that there will be a price hike in the ticket particularly in Disneyland in Anaheim, California and Disney World in Florida. In California, the ticket ranges will increase from $95, $105 to $119 to $97, $110 to $124 which is good for a day. The Deluxe annual pass will also have price hike ranging…
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Pre-reading questions: Do you know any foreign food brand? Do you purchase from foreign food brands? Do you know Vegemite? Vegemite brand is under Australian management once again after Bega Cheese acquired it from Mondelez International. Including ZoOSH mayonnaise and Bonox beef extract, the deal was closed at A$460 million. On the other hand, Mondelez International said they would prioritize main brands in New Zealand and Australia, such as Cadbury and Oreos. Bega Executive Chairman Barry Irvin said the brand Vegemite upholds the wonderful heritage of Australian culture which makes this investment exciting. Australians lost the brand to American food company Kraft in 1935, though its manufacturing process stayed in…
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  Pre-reading questions: What do you think about working time? What do you do during your free time?   Deutsche Bank says that reducing overtime work could affect Japanese economic growth. Laborious industries are said to suffer the most due to manpower shortage. Reducing overtime was deemed as a solution to reduce cases of “karoshi” or death by overwork. Deutsche Bank expect companies to limit overime to avoid negative publicity. However, this move is directly proportional to profits as decreasing overtime work will also decrease profits and sales. The pursuit to cut extended working hours was strengthened after the suicide of an advertising firm employee who rendered more than 100…
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  Pre-reading questions: How often do you eat burgers? Do you like McDonald’s? Do you visit other foreign fast food chains in your area?   McDonald’s has handed 80% of its operations worth $2.1 billion to Citic group and Carlyle group. The two firms will take over 2,000 McDonald’s outlets in China and Hongkong. Under the new partnership, Citic takes a 52% stake while Carlyle handles 28% of the share. The American fast food chain keeps the remaining portion of 20%. This step is in line with the company’s goal to add more outlets in China, Hongkong and South Korea in the next 5 years.Yum brands, the owner of KFC…
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  Pre-reading questions: Do you have an email account? How long have you been using your email account? How important is security in email accounts?   Over one billion Yahoo accounts had been compromised in the hacking incident in 2013. Account owners’ personal data including phone numbers, passwords, security questions, and backup email addresses were illegally acquired in the process. It is considered the biggest data breach on the record. The stolen data had been for sale on the dark web, but since the incident had been disclosed to the public, the price was expected to decline. Investigators pointed the finger at Group E— a group of cybercriminals based in…
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Pre-reading questions: What are the least popular jobs in your country? What is your dream job? What kind of jobs have you tried so far?   Japan’s population is diminishing and aging. It’s affecting the labor-intensive sectors. Hotels, restaurants and elderly care industries are coming up short in productive workers. The government cannot offer higher salary without productivity. Service businesses have a lot of part-time and contractual employees, which weakens the bargaining power of employees. The labor market is flawed and irregular in that there is a shortage of workers in jobs with the least productivity. With this kind of situation, it is not feasible to raise wages without studying,…
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