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economic prosperity - rozkwit, dobrobyt gospodarczy, okres dobrej koniunktury
LESSON 72
FINANCIAL OPERATIONS AND SPECULATIONS
Some dealers or traders have inside information about a company - they have prior
knowledge of a company s financial situation. This means that they can buy and sell shares and
make a fortune. But it s illegal to carry out insider trading.
Anybody with a personal computer can buy and sell shares through computer selling.
You don t have to have large amounts of money! You can become a small investor.
Lots of people are small investors nowadays.
In fact, many people never bought shares until the government encouraged them to invest
money in state industries by selling them to private buyers. The government encouraged people
to invest money to buy shares in newly privatized companies - when they were floated on the
stock market. If you float a company on the stock market, you sell shares in it to the public.
We ve been talking about currency speculators and insider trading. Insider trading allows
dealers to make money illegally by buying or selling shares because they have prior information
about a company. Computer selling means small investors can buy or sell shares at home. The
privatization of state industries and the floating of new companies on the stock market have
increased the number of small investors.
speculations - spekulacje
dealers, traders - maklerzy, dilerzy
inside information - poufne informacje
prior - uprzedni, wcześniejszy
shares - akcje
to make a fortune - zbić fortunę, zrobić majątek
small investor - drobny akcjonariusz
to encourage - zachęcać
state industries - państwowe gałęzie przemysłu
newly privatized - niedawno sprywatyzowany
to float a company on the stock market - wejść na giełdę
currency speculators - spekulanci walutą
LESSON 73
CAPITAL
The word capital comes from the Latin word for head . In this sense it s still used in the
expression - per capita - which means, literally - per head. Then there s capital punishment - a
type of punishment in which you lose your life, and once that very often meant losing your head!
Over the years the meaning of capital has gradually become more general - it s come to
indicate things that are first or at the top - like capital letters or capital cities.
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In the business sense, capital is the first money, the money that starts the company or allows it
to do something new. Or, you could simply say - capital is the money that s used to produce
more money.
Today, most new wealth is generated by service businesses, not heavy industry. And services
depend on ideas! Some of the world s most profitable companies - such as Microsoft and Disney
- don t actually manufacture anything. This means that investing in human capital - or
brainpower - is a high priority for most businesses.
Yes, it seems that the word capital is returning at last to its original meaning - the head, and
what s inside it&
capital - kapitał
head - głowa
per capita - na głowę (np. dochód)
capital punishment - kara śmierci
capital letters - drukowane litery
capital cities - stolice
to generate - generować, wytwarzać
service businesses - przemysł usługowy
heavy industry - przemysł ciężki
to depend - zależeć
profitable - dochodowy
to manufacture - wytwarzać
human capital - kapitał ludzki
brainpower - intelekt
priority - priorytet
to return - wracać
LESSON 74
INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
Take the American software firm, Microsoft. In 1997 its asset value was 13 billion dollars. But its
market value was 119 billion. So, 106 billion of Microsoft s worth comes from other things, which
can be defined as corporate knowledge or intellectual capital. Things such as the quality of its
management and its huge research and development projects. Some of these advantages can
be quantified, just like the value of a factory. But how do you put a price on such things as a
creative atmosphere or a charismatic leader?
To secure their futures quite a few of the world s largest companies, such as the electronics firm,
Motorola, and the restaurant chain, McDonald s, have established their own universities. They
are already competing successfully with more traditional business schools.
Soon the world s most highly paid graduates will come from a hamburger college&
software firm - firma produkująca oprogramowanie komputerowe
asset value - wartość aktywów
market value - wartość rynkowa
worth - wartość
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corporate knowledge - kapitał intelektualny przedsiębiorstwa
management - dyrekcja
research and development projects - program prac naukowo-badawczych
to quantify - ująć ilościowo
to put a price - wycenić
creative - twórczy
charismatic - charyzmatyczny
leader - lider, przywódca, tu: szef, dyrektor
to secure - zabezpieczyć
to establish - założyć
to compete - rywalizować, konkurować
graduates - absolwenci
LESSON 75
VIRTUAL COMPANY
Unlike an ordinary company, a virtual company may do without offices and factories, and it may
hardly have any full-time employees. It buys the services it needs at the time it needs them, and
depends on computers and communications technology to keep in touch with suppliers,
customers and staff.
You wouldn t call huge multinationals, such as Ford or Sony virtual companies . These are firms
with huge factories, offices and thousands of employees. But even the world s most powerful
firms must now ask themselves what is our core competence? Increasingly, many companies
are concluding that they should employ outside firms to supply components and services, such
as information technology, accounting, and even design and manufacturing.
So, perhaps the question now is not whether the virtual company has a future, but whether there
is a future without virtual companies, and whether old-style companies will survive in the 21st
century.
virtual company - przedsiębiorstwo wirtualne
to do without - obyć się
full-time employee - pracownik zatrudniony na pełen etat
suppliers - dostawcy
customers - klienci
staff - pracownicy, personel
multinationals - koncerny międzynarodowe
core competence - główna specjalizacja i ekspertyza
components - komponenty
design - projektowanie
old-style company - tradycyjne przedsiębiorstwo
to survive - przeżyć, przetrwać
LESSON 76
THEORY X AND THEORY Y
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Theory X and Theory Y were the names given in the 1960 s by an American psychologist,
Douglas McGgregor, to two contrasting sets of beliefs held by managers about workers. Theory
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