Unit 4 Great ideas

1. Unit 4 Great ideas

2. Quotation Dr. Linus Pauling (1901-1994) American chemist, Nobel Prize Winner for chemistry in 1954 and Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1962 The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. You may have a lot of ideas before coming up with the big one.

3. Quotations about ideas Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes. The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds. The value of an idea lies in the using of it. Ideas must work through the brains and the arms of good and brave men, or they are no better than dreams. Ideas not coupled with action never become bigger than the brain cells they occupied. Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.

4. Starting up A Which of the following statements do you agree or disagree with? Why? 1 There are no new ideas 2 Most of the best ideas are discovered by accident. 3 Research and development is the key to great business ideas. 4 There is nothing wrong with copying and improving the ideas of others. 5 The best way to kill an idea is to take it to a meeting. B What should companies do to encourage new ideas?

5. Vocabulary A Make word partnerships about the benefits companies get from great ideas. Verb & noun combinations Verbs 1 exploit 3 win 5 enter 2 extend 4 make 6 see b a d c f e • Nouns • an award c) a range e) an opening • an opportunity d) a market f) a breakthrough B Make word partnerships about the benefits customers get from great ideas. • Verbs • 1 save 3 meet 5 protect 7 reduce • 2 fill 4 solve 6 enhance • Nouns • waste c) a gap e) a need g) the • status d) a problem f) time environment e g a f d b c

6. Vocabulary Great ideas are generated in different ways. Sometimes an idea may simply be when a company ………… an opportunity to ……….the product range, to offer more choice to existing customers. Or a great idea could allow a company to ……… a market which was closed to it before. Companies which are prepared to spend a lot on R & D may …….. a breakthrough by having an original idea for a product which others later copy, for example Sony and the Walkman. On the other hand, some products are developed in response to customer research. They come from customer ideas. These products………a real need. Or the product does something similar to another product, but faster, so it ……… time. Some people will buy new products because the product ………...... their status—makes them feel more important. Other people will buy any ‘green’ product which ……….. waste or …………the environment, even if it is more expensive. If an idea is really good—perhaps the product………...a gap in the market—it may even ……….. an award for innovation. exploits Verb & noun combinations extend enter make meet saves enhances reduces protects fills win

7. Listening Listen and answer the following questions Developing new ideas What kind of company is Isis? Isis Innovation is a company owned by the University of Oxford. What do they do? Their job is to turn the ideas developed in the University’s research laboratories into commercial opportunities. How could they do this? They do this by either negotiating licenses or by helping start new companies.

8. Listening A Listen to the first part of the interview and answer the questions Developing new ideas 1a) Where do the ideas come from? They come from Oxford University’s research laboratories. 1b) How does Isis turn them into commercial opportunities? They do it by negotiating licenses or helping researchers start new companies. 2a) No, but they have started a company that uses their technology to make car bodies more quickly and more economically. 2b) Yes, they have started a company that makes beehives to help fruit production in orchards. 2c) No, but they have started a company that trains archaeologists to use computer techniques and sells them the software they need.

9. Listening B Listen to the second part of the interview and complete the extract. Developing new ideas To build a company on university ________, you have to bring together a number of components. The first thing you need is a _______________, which we help the researchers to _______. We can then use this business plan to raise the ____________ - the cash that you need to __________ the business. This comes from private _____________. science business plan write investment start investors

10. Reading Article 1 Double your money Three great ideas Alka-Seltzer is a brand name owned by the German Bayer Corporation for a line of medications sold over the counter and taken by rapidly dissolving tablets that form an effervescent solution in water.

11. Reading Article 2 Buying without shops Three great ideas Sears, Roebuck and Company is an American mid-range chain of international department stores, founded by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck in the late 19th century. From its mail order beginnings, the company grew to become the largest retailer in the United States by the mid-20th century, and its catalogs became famous.

12. Reading Article 3 Pay before you talk Three great ideas Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84.7 billion. The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones.

13. Reading Three great ideas Complete the chart below Mail order Mobile phone New York, USA The UK The 1970s 1891 Got people to pay in advance with “top up” cards Change 1 tablet into 2 in the ad Created a new way of selling Expanded fast & developed the 1st automated warehouse Sales increased Sales doubled

14. Language review Past simple & past continuous There are two principal past tenses used to make general statements about the past: The past simple and the past continuous. The two tenses are quite different. • 1 Past simple is used to talk about an event which happened at certain times in the past. • Tom flew to Chicago last week. • Peter visited his friends in Florida two months ago. • 2 Past continuous is used to express: • what was happening at particular moments in the past. • I was attending a lecture at 2:30 yesterday afternoon. • Alice was reading a book at six yesterday evening. • b) what was happening at the same time that something else happened in the past. • The children were doing their homework when she arrived. • Jack was studying while Dave was cooking dinner.

15. Language review A Complete the story with Past Simple or Past Continuous. Mr. Fry – Keep me posted In the early 1970s, Art Fry, a research scientist, had the idea for Post-it Notes while he was singing in his local church choir. At that time he ________ (mark) the correct pages of his hymn book with small pieces of paper. The problem was they often ______ (fall) out and he ______ (lose) his place. At the same time, Dr. Spencer Silver, a colleague of Mr. Fry’s at the American company 3M, __________ (do) research into adhesives in the Central Research Department. One day when Fry ____________ (use) some of a new adhesive on the edge of a piece of paper, he found that it ________ (stay) where he put it. He also found he could move it to another position without damaging his book – a perfect bookmark. A little later he ________ (write) a note on a ‘bookmark’ and put it on a report he ______ (send) to a colleague. A new way of communicating and organizing information began. Post-its have now become an essential part of office life. Past simple & past continuous marked fell lost was doing was using stayed wrote sent

16. Background information about 3M 3M Company, formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation with a worldwide presence. It produces over 55,000 products, including: adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, electrical materials, electronic circuits, optical films, and supply chain management software. 3M has operations in more than 60 countries – 29 international companies with manufacturing operations, and 35 with laboratories. 3M products are available for purchase through distributors and retailers in more than 200 countries, and many 3M products are available online directly from the company.

17. Language review B Complete the following chart for Art Fry Past simple & past continuous Research scientist, 3M The US Early 1970s Use a new adhesive on a piece of paper to make a bookmark that could be moved and written on Post-its became part of office life

18. Skills A Which of the following do you agree with? Why? Successful meetings 1 The best number for a meeting is six people or fewer. 2 Never have food or drink during a meeting. 3 Always start and finish a meeting on time. 4 You should sit round a table when you have a meeting. 5 A meeting must always have a leader. 6 At a formal meeting each person should speak in turn.

19. More about meetings Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better. The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings. People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. Meetings - you can't live with them, you can't live without them. Effective meetings don't happen by accident, they happen by design. Meetings without an agenda are like a restaurant without a menu. Always start and finish a meeting on time. Effective meetings result in a comprehensive record of the meeting's discussions and decisions.

20. Skills General comprehension Successful meetings Who are at the meeting? Chairperson, Katharina, Kenneth, Nadia, Julia What is the agenda of the meeting? Decide on the launch date, marketing strategy & targeted sales outlet What launch date have they talked about at the meeting? Katharina: February or March (a gap in the market) Kenneth: May or June (a peak period for buying goggles) Nadia: February (the best time, could promote in swimming pools & opticians) Final decision: February What are their targeted sales outlet? Specialist stores (stores that only sell sports equipment)

21. Skills B Freestyle is a sports equipment company. It has developed a new type of swimming goggles. The Marketing Department held a meeting to discuss the launch of the product. Successful meetings 1 What are the two aims of the meeting? 2 Why does Katharina want to launch the goggles early in the year? 3 Which months for the launch do the participants discuss? 4 Which types of shops does Julia want to target? To decide on the launch date and the marketing strategy. She believes that the goggles are technically advanced and there is no reason to wait. Katharina: Feb. or March. Kenneth: May or June. Nadia: February Julia wants to target specialist sports stores.

22. Skills C Listen again. Tick the expressions which Inge, the chairperson, uses. Successful meetings 1 Can we start, please? 2 The purpose of this meeting is to decide the date of the launch. 3 Katharina, what do you think? 4 OK, let’s hear a few more views. 5 Nadia, how do you feel about this? 6 You’re right, Katharina. Let’s get back to the point. 7 OK everyone. I think on balance we agree … 8 I want us to talk about sales outlets now.

23. Skills D Listen again and complete the extracts. Successful meetings favor Katharina: I’m in _______ of February or March. There’s a gap in the market for our products. Why wait any longer? Inge: … Kenneth, what’s your opinion? Kenneth: Mmm, I ____________ about February. It’s a bit early in the year. I _________ we ________ in May or June. People go on holiday then. Nadia: The price should be high. I’d say, at least ₤50. Katharina: _________ a minute. I thought we were talking about the launch date, not about promotion or price. Inge: Which outlets do you think we should target? Julia: _________ we should start with the specialist stores. That’s where most swimmers buy their goggles. Inge: What ____________ by specialist stores, Julia? don’t know suggest launch Hold on I think do you mean

24. Fabtek Introduction CASE STUDY Hamburg, Germany Protean, a new type of fabric that can be used for a wide variety of products. License other manufacturers to produce interesting new products with Protean.

25. Fabtek The advantages of Protean CASE STUDY • light, strong and long-lasting • can be made very thick or so thin that it • becomes translucent • can be made in any color • extremely flexible and soft to the touch • made from fibers similar to nylon and • polyester • fibers can be coated with metals so that the • fabric can conduct electricity

26. Fabtek An opportunity for Gadget Plc CASE STUDY Over 2,000 products, including many best-selling electronic, household and automobile products A worldwide network of sales offices. Come up with new ideas for using Protean

27. Fabtek Task CASE STUDY • Speaking • You are a member of Gadget’s Product Development Department. • Hold a meeting to propose ideas for exciting • new products which use Protean. • Choose a product which you will propose to • Fabtek in order to get a licensing agreement. Writing You are a member of Gadget’s Product Development Department. Write a memo report to the CEO of Fabtek on one of the products you have chosen, outlining the product’s key features and saying why it presents a commercial opportunity.

28. Thank you!