Fill in each blank with the best word from the list. Use each word only
once.
assets profit monopoly bankrupt debt conglomerate
1. Bill Gates almost has a(n) __________ on computer operating systems.
Almost everyone uses Windows on their computer.
2. Even after paying taxes and all expenses, Microsoft still made a huge __________.
3. My cousin’s company is going __________. He can’t pay all the money that
he owes.
4. GE has many buildings, manufactured goods, and other __________ of value.
5. Money you owe is called a(n) __________.
6. GE is a(n) __________; that is, it is one big company that consists of many
smaller companies in different fields.
1. When a company is rated, it tells them where they stand in their industry.
2. According to a kind of survey, companies can be assigned ratings on their
performance based on the figures in their financial statements.
3. A company can be judged by the opinions of executives and other employees.
4. People use these rankings as an indication of the company’s reputation.
5. Another criterion for determining a company’s performance is to evaluate their
market performance.
6. Investors and lenders want companies to be rated.
Rating Companies
Reasons
Why Companies are Rated
Methods for Rating
Fill in the blanks in the table with the sentences below according to the
category they belong to. Use each sentence only once.
148
5
10
15
20
0
5
0
S
upplemental Reading
S
ince 1999, the US magazine
Forbes has published
a special list of the
“best” companies around the world: the A-list of Best Big Companies.
One of the first requirements is that a company must have over US $5
billlion in sales per year. Next,
Forbes looks at the company’s history over the past
five years. Only companies with stable growth of sales and solid stock prices
remain on the list.
In looking at the list of companies selected by
Forbes,
it appears businesses
worldwide are not really equally represented. For example, a person might
assume that the number of companies from a country should be related in some
way to that country’s economic power. But companies
from the United States
and Europe seem overly represented on
Forbes’ A-list. Companies from the
United States and Europe represent 85 percent of the companies on the list!
Why are Asian companies underrepresented on this list?
Actually, there are several reasons business analysts have suggested to
account for this underrepresentation. Most of these
reasons are related to the
“bad” business practices of many Asian companies. For example, companies that
hire relatives or friends as managers typically do not have stable growth. They
usually fail. Both the legal and political systems in some
countries allow businesses to
operate in ways considered
unethical. Such practices make these
companies poor choices for investors and
thus remove these companies from
Forbes’
A-list.
Where Are the Asian Companies?
Discussion
Discuss the following questions.
1. Do you agree with how Fortune and
Business Week rank companies?
Why or why not?
2. What do you think is the most important thing to consider in order to
have a successful company?
Track 48
